Navy officials confirmed that a U.S. helicopter attached to a Navy hospital ship was fired on during a humanitarian mission Monday in the southern Philippines.
It was unclear Wednesday, however, exactly when the MH-60 helicopter was struck by a single bullet, according to a Pacific Fleet spokesman.
"During a post-flight inspection conducted June 9, a bullet hole was found in the tail of an MH-60 helicopter operating from the USNS Mercy," Petty Officer 1st Class Shane Tuck said in an e-mail response to a query from Stars and Stripes.
"There were no personnel casualties.
"The aircraft commander was unaware of the bullet strike during the flight."
The incident occurred at some point during the helicopter’s mission Monday from the Mercy, which is anchored off Cotabato City in the southern island of Mindanao.
"The MH-60 aircraft departed Mercy with no passengers en route to a landing zone about 50 miles inland, where it picked up 11 passengers and returned to the ship," Tuck said.
"It is unclear if the bullet struck while the passengers were on board."
The aircraft is assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 21, based at North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado, Calif.
Flights were suspended for 24 hours and have since resumed, Tuck said.
"The suspension resulted in the cancellation of one of the 22 scheduled Medical Civil Action Programs," he said.
The Associated Press reported no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, although several armed groups operate in the area, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Communist New People’s Army rebels, private armies and criminal gangs.
Eid Kabalu, spokesman for the Moro Islamic organization, the Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group, condemned the attack, according to the AP.
The Mercy, homeported in San Diego, is conducting humanitarian assistance in the region as part of Pacific Partnership 08.
The Philippines is the first stop on the ship’s five-country, five-month mission in the Western Pacific.
The ship is scheduled to remain in the Philippines until Tuesday.
