Aboard the plane were killed when it went down shortly after takeoff already suspect mechanical problems calls the crowd. Well im terry Martin Thanks for joining us iran claims it has killed more than 80 americans after firing Ballistic Missiles at u. S. Military targets in iraq the missiles reportedly hit 2 bases the Assad Air Base in western iraq and another near the city of deal in the north the u. S. Defense Department Says its still assessing the full extent of the damage around revolutionary guard says the attack was in retaliation for the u. S. Assassination of general money on friday. For the very latest now lets cross over to baghdad where journalists maggot has been following this story what are you hearing there about possible casualties in these attacks. I mean the news is still developing thats where to get anything concert in the u. S. Sources who have spoken to within the military say that they are still looking into their possible casualties and people in the Iraqi Military are denying that and the casualties. To this situation is still down thing and its unclear yet whether there are actually been casualties from these attacks ok these missile attacks on the military bases in iraq is this the kind of response that was expected from iran as a reaction to the killing of custom so many it is an expected response and even in your narrow needed to have some sort of response to the deaths there general and you know it was expected would you place on it on its soil and it would target american efforts to now on you know and soldiers on the oil so mean americans new i think to a certain extent that Something Like this would come to this is sort of the thinking that missile attack perhaps they not make is not going to happen in the past it and you know needed troops were appearing for some sort of retaliation. Now iranian the Iranian Foreign minister has tweeted that his country had taken and concluded proportionate measures and selfdefense to work concluded is important there he also said we do not seek escalation of war but will defend ourselves do you think that this is really the end of it from irans side or are iraqis bracing for more. I mean i think it actually truly depends on what we end and what about the cattle thieves you know if american citizens were killed it seems unlikely that the u. S. Would have a response and if the u. S. Response then i think iran will also be forced to respond if this you know if there are no casualties then 6 to 10 you know then its a potential that this could be seen as your response. Base for them and they wouldnt necessarily have to launch or skin were to be difficult for them at this time as their economy has been severely bludgeoned by sanctions and be hard for them to support a war ok even if this is the end of it from the official iranian side this action was taken by the Iranian State there are a reunion proxy groups like Hezbollah Operating in lebanon and also in iraq could we still see a response from them i think its very likely that we would i also think that you know even if this is what he and frankly iranian side you know in terms of things like direct missiles i feel that they know that they you know we operate in directly to proxies and have been doing so for years and then on top of that it wasnt only customs money who was killed in the u. S. And strength it was also a boom in hundreds who was the leader of his will one of the biggest militia groups in iraq and so theres no way that they want revenge their leader i think we can get more you know things like rocket attacks on and this personnel in iraq thanks for filling us in that was journalist question mike of there in. Our washington correspondent public folia leahs is following reactions from the United States and joins us now from washington pablo present trump has been commenting on the attack using twitter what does he have to say so far. Thats right terry a far more muted different approach to what weve been seeing in recent days from President Trump in his tweet he said all is well missiles launched from iran to 2 military bases located in iraq he said have assessment of casualties and damages is taking place now so far so good all the making a statement tomorrow morning referring to of course wednesday morning so as we can see more measured it came shortly after a meeting with the defense secretary mark asper the secretary of state mike pompei o. And the Vice President mike pence so were seeing a different approach now sitting back waiting to see exactly what comes out of this investigation thats taking place over in iraq to see exactly what the extent of the damages are and also if there are casualties on of course depending on President Trump will then make his next move but we dont have too long to wait as i said wednesday morning hell be speaking at publicly about it so president trope is saying all is well so good so for but the iranians at least already in state television is saying that the americans were killed in those strikes have you heard anything from other sources yet in washington about casualties and damage. Well here in the United States is very much an approach of lets wait and see lets wait and see exactly what comes out of these investigations and then theyll be able to comment but what we have been seeing is the media has been reporting quoting u. S. Officials they dont choose day that there were no indications of american casualties so far also there were other media sources saying that Iraqi Security fishel were telling them that there were no casualties among Iraqi Security forces because lets not forget that Iraqi Security forces and u. S. Forces actually were in particular in the base were essentially in the same base so once again terry i think what we need to do is lets not speculate lets wait and see actually walk comes out of these investigations and then once we know the full picture then well be able to see exactly what approach the United States is going to take the United States of course was bracing for retaliation from iran in response to the u. S. Killing of the top iranian general did this attack really come as a surprise or was the u. S. Prepared. Well in recent days. The United States appeared to be gearing up for some sort of attack actually earlier on choose day the defense secretary mark asper said that the u. S. Was closely monitoring iranian activity and also the u. S. Was watching out for a potential for potential attacks on u. S. Targets in the region including like iraq kuwait saudi arabia and the United Arab Emirates so in many respects it didnt come as much of a shock here in the United States considering that its been very much the focus of attention in the media in the past few days. Thank you very much that was day that was published in washington. Now to the other big story were following today more than 170 people have died after a ukrainian passenger jet crashed also in iraq and authorities are pointing to suspected mechanical problems the ukrainian Early InternationalAirlines Plane was on its way from irans capital tehran to kiev ukraines president Volodymyr Selenski broke off a foreign visit to return to kiev because of the crush. A sea of spotify is lights up the night sky in a field near. The apparent remnants of the Ukraine International and on flight that crashed shortly after takeoff from the iranian capital iranian t. V. Stations are the 1st to broadcast images of the accident including this video which appears to show the plane going down. But its daybreak that reveals the extent of the destruction. Plane debris smolders it jet engine lies abandoned and the personal belongings of the victims lies scattered across the field where the plane went down. By witnesses say they heard an explosion when it did. Start to shift it was about 6 oclock when we heard an explosion i was on the way to work but returned and was here shortly after when i arrived the plane and passion just bodies had been shattered into many pieces the only thing that the pilot could do wish to hear the plane towards a soccer field and away from a residential area will be one of your own from the poly they have got. The plane carried more than 170 passengers and crew from a number of different countries. None of them survived. Iranian state television and the Ukrainian Embassy in iran both claim mechanical issues for the crash the latter adding that the incident was not caused by terrorism the airline itself says its still trying to determine the cause. As investigators search for answers rescuers are handling the grim task of recovering the dead. More on the plane crash im joined now by aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas her he joins us from Perth Australia geoffrey what more do we know about this crash. Look we now understand there was a significant engine failure. And it may have been on an uncontained engine failure where the fan blades of the engine exit the engine itself and possibly punched the fuselage it was a large. From this a craft prior to impact on the ground and the examination of the wreckage shows one engine reminds pretty well intact but the other engine shows significant destruction and exhibits chills while signs of a massive fire we know that theres 176 people on board that some count puts some counts put that 179147 of those were iranian folks going to kiev. So at this stage it appears to be a Major Mechanical problem and thats been confirmed by the iranian investigators on the ground but why the pilots couldnt. Contain this fire we dug there was no communication from the copy whatsoever to sign off on that hint of any problems all tracking devices ceased before it had a better eye 1000 feet and then the plane plummeted down to to the ground what can you tell us stephanie about the Safety Record of the plane of this particular model the 737. 00 and the airline that was operating. This is the 737 next generational rangy this is the ice 100 model is 3 models is the 7080900 tearing in size the eye 100 has an excellent Safety Record theres over 7000 of them flying around the world at the moment they do about 4 or 5 flights a day so its a very. If you can contribute to the world sail on system. And a very reliable aircraft the Ukrainians National airlines has was formed in 9092 it has 30 idea of profit its fleet its wise to better idea destinations and this is its 1st fatality so he takes all the boxes to his donal might just say thank you woods so its a very good ale im highly respected so this is really quite a strange and very tragic occurrence and this this accident happened to jeffrey just as iran was launching Ballistic Missiles against targets in neighboring iraq could that have played been a factor in this crash look i dont believe so. The evident no evidence is to that to suggest that could be the case is still its very early days at this stage but initial initial suggestions are no it did not have any effect this appears to be a technical problem a typical failure. And you know this airplane was carrying mostly iranian nationals. Sure it was not a target either intentionally or unintentionally it it appears to be a mechanical issue jeffrey thank you very much for your insights that was n. E. s aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas there. Youre watching the news coming up next hour documentary wrote in the role focusing on a Spanish Village and why the placement of a u. S. Military base changes everything there im terry Martin Thanks watch. Its all happening touch a bit. During league time news from africa and the world your links to exceptional stories and discussions can you unload come to diffuse the ticking program tonight from fun to meet someone uses easy time i would say deputy comes next africa join us on facebook t. W. Africa