BAGHDAD: Seven American soldiers were killed yesterday when their transport helicopter crashed in southern Iraq, the deadliest such incident in the country for over a year, the US military said.

The CH-47 Chinook went down, killing all on board, about 100 km west of the main southern port city of Basra as it formed part of a four-aircraft convoy flying from Kuwait to the northern city of Balad.

“The total casualties for the Ch-47 is seven. This includes the crew,” Maj. John C. Hall said. “All seven died as a result of the crash.” The incident comes just two days after US Gen. Raymond Odierno took over as the new commander of US-led forces in Iraq from Gen. David Petraeus.

British military spokesman Maj. Paul Smyth said a British quick reaction force was dispatched from Basra and a British road convoy in the vicinity was diverted to the scene of the crash. He said both British and US personnel were at the scene.

Meanwhile, the US military said it has arrested an American soldier serving in Iraq over the killing this week of two comrades. Staff Sgt. Darris Dawson, 24, and Sgt. Wesley Durbin, 26, were shot dead on Sunday at their patrol base near Iskandariyah, just south of Baghdad, a military statement said.

Also yestaerday, a US soldier was sentenced yesterday to seven months in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the deaths of four detainees in Iraq last year, an army spokeswoman said in Berlin. The defendant, Spc. Belmor Ramos, 23, pleaded guilty at the start of the court-martial.

His sentence also included a reduction to the rank of private, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge from the US army. The US military court judge had recommended the soldier be jailed for 40 years but a plea agreement led his term to be drastically reduced, a spokeswoman for the US 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command, Denver Makle, told AFP.

In another development, the American military has begun training a first batch of Iraqi women spies to work alongside US-led forces in the violence-hit country, it was announced here yesterday. US intelligence specialists addressed Iraqi women who formed the first class to undergo the Basic Military Intelligence Course, the US military said in a statement.

“You will, along with the men and women of the Iraqi security forces, work with us to take the fight to the enemy,” Brig. Gen. Mary Legere, a director of intelligence for US-led forces in Iraq, told the recruits.

The statement did not say how many recruits took part, how long the training would last or where the classes were conducted. There has been a surge in suicide bombings carried out by Iraqi women, including war widows, in recent months. They are said to be motivated by poverty, desperation or a desire for revenge for the deaths of family members blamed on the US-led military.

“This week marks an important event for the new Iraq as we begin training women in the intelligence specialty,” said Steve Bond, director of the Intelligence Transition Team working with US forces.