(BAMAKO ) A German Tiger Helicopter Gunship assigned to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in
Mali crashed on Wednesday, killing the two crew members.
The Tiger helicopter crashed around midday about 70 km (45 miles) north of Gao, burning out completely with no survivors. The crash was reported by a second helicopter following in the mission. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference.
“We have now certainty that two soldiers have given their lives in the service of our country,”Germany's cabinet in Jan 17 approved the deployment in Marchof eight attack and transport helicopters as well as 350 additional soldiers to Mali as part of Operation Serval a U.N. peacekeeping mission.
The Eurocopter Tiger is a four-bladed, twin-engined attack
helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Eurocopter
(now Airbus Helicopters). in Germany and Australia it is known as the Tiger; in France and Spain
it is called the Tigre. As it is a European venture the Tiger comes in 4
different varients: The UH Tiger as used
by Germany, The Tiger HAP as used by France, the Tiger HAD as used by France
and Spain and finally Tiger ARH as used by the Australians
