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BAGHDAD: A U.S. helicopter went down after coming under fire Thursday in a Sunni militant stronghold south of Baghdad but there was no immediate word on casualties, an Iraqi army official said. The U.S. military said it was looking into the report.4 s, S: Y/ C( ^9 }4 r6 a) \# G
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Gunmen opened fire on a Black Hawk helicopter at about 7:30 a.m. as it flew over Latifiyah, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.1 B8 B* `: f( h8 J. B9 _& F: n
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The helicopter went down in a rural area and U.S. forces had cordoned off the site, the official said. He had no information on casualties but said the militants apparently were using anti-aircraft heavy machine gun.$ V, e9 Z" K8 F0 n: ]% l2 i
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Latifiyah is part of the area dubbed the Triangle of Death because of frequent insurgent attacks.. |+ [' ?. g( ~( q$ ~: F* R9 B
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The last helicopter incident in Iraq occurred on March 1, when an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter made a "hard landing" in northern Iraq leaving the two crew members wounded. A week earlier, ground fire forced the downing of a Black Hawk north of Baghdad. . A' _* X4 b; {) G3 Q; u9 } 2 ]# x1 X. v! z, ]3 z% VWith Thursday's incident, at least nine U.S. helicopters have crashed or been brought down by hostile fire this year in Iraq.
