DHAKA: A military helicopter crashed during a training exercise, killing all seven crew members on board, reports Mail Online, reports Mail Online citing a statement of Iraq's Defense Ministry.

The statement said the Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter crashed Sunday morning (November 12) in the central Wasit province. The cause of the accident was not immediately known.

The province is located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, far from the front lines of the war with the Islamic State group. 

US-backed Iraqi forces have driven the extremists from nearly all the territory they once controlled, with some fighting still underway near the western border with Syria.

BDST: 1632 HRS, NOV 12, 2017
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