The Haifa Street helicopter incident or the Haifa Street massacre was a controversial event in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, on September 12, 2004. The fighting started before dawn on
Haifa Street
Haifa Street (or Hayfa Street) ( ar, شارع حيفا) is a two-mile-long street in Baghdad, Iraq, named after the port city of Haifa. It runs parallel to the Tigris and, along with Yafa Street (named after the port city of Jaffa), it leads to t ...
, where insurgents detonated two car bombs and attacked American troops with heavy gunfire. An American
Bradley
Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English.
Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular.
It is also an Anglicisation of t ...
armored fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, ...
was mobilized to support US troops, but it was struck by a car bomb around 6:30 a.m., wounding four American soldiers.
After the wounded Americans were evacuated, witnesses reported that a crowd had gathered around the burning Bradley, apparently celebrating. Media personnel also arrived on the scene, filming the burning wreckage. Reports said that the media and crowd had been gathered around the vehicle after the fighting ended. At around 8:00 a.m., an American helicopter fired two missiles and machine guns at the burning tank, killing 13 people and injuring about 60 others.
Among the dead was
Mazen al-Tumeizi Mazen al-Tumeizi ( ar, مازن الطميزي also transliterated Mazen Tumesi, c. July 5, 1979 – September 12, 2004) was a Palestinian journalist, killed on-camera in Baghdad, Iraq by U.S. helicopter gunfire while covering the Haifa Street ...
, a
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
reporter for
al-Arabiya
Arabiya ( ar, العربية, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an international Arabic news television channel, currently based in Dubai, that is operated by the media conglomerate MBC.
The channel is a flag ...
TV who was filming a report at the time. Tumeizi's death and the incident itself were caught by his cameraman.
The American military said it fired on the vehicle "to prevent looting and harm to the Iraqi people," and that they had fired on insurgents, not civilians.
References
External links
At least 12 killed in Baghdad fightingIncident on Haifa StreetArmy Defends Baghdad Battle That Left 16 DeadMotive for Haifa Street Helicopter Massacre Remains a MysteryEyewitness account{{Iraq-hist-stub
2004 in Iraq
Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)
2000s in Baghdad
Filmed killings in Asia
Controversies in Iraq
September 2004 events in Iraq