According to the United States military, four U.S. soldiers are dead after two aircraft crashed in Northern Iraq early Monday, Jan. 26.
Very little details about the crash have been released. Major Jose Lopez, a U.S. military spokesman, said that the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
This is not the first time an incident like this has occurred. Last September, seven soldiers stationed in Iraq were killed in a helicopter crash. These accidents inevitably raise the U.S. military death toll in Iraq, which has just reached 4,236 this week. However, the Associated Press claims that the majority of casualties are the result of “hostile action,” as opposed to accidents. Hostility in Iraq is also responsible for 31,004 injured U.S. servicemen.
The situation in Iraq is likely to change in the near future, as President Obama has already issued orders for key military officials to devise plans for U.S. combat troop withdrawal from the area over the next 16 months.