2nd Nicaraguan Copter Downed in Week, Contras Say
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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — U.S.-backed Nicaraguan rebels said Friday that they shot down an MI-24 helicopter gunship in eastern Nicaragua.
It was the second Sandinista helicopter the contras have claimed to shoot down in less than a week. Neither has been confirmed by Nicaragua’s Sandinista government. In Washington, the State Department said it was unable to confirm either downing.
Adolfo Calero, head of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, said in a telephone interview that the rebels knocked down the gunship with a U.S.-supplied SAM-7 anti-aircraft missile. The ground-to-air missile is Soviet made.
Calero said the helicopter “crashed in flames” in central Nicaragua in the province of Zelaya about 10 miles from the town of Puerto Viejo. Calero said the Santiago Meza Regional Command under the leadership of a combatant named Zacharias shot down the helicopter Thursday afternoon.
“We’re going to continue shooting down helicopters and if the Sandinistas have any shame they will recognize (their losses),” Calero said.
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