Insurgents claim attack on US helicopter

AN American helicopter came down near Baghdad yesterday in what appeared to be the second shooting down of an aircraft in three days, with rebel violence expected to escalate as Iraq’s election results are confirmed.

Witnesses said the aircraft went down after coming under rocket fire in Mishahda, just north of Baghdad.

The US military confirmed the helicopter had come down but was still investigating the cause.

Two insurgent groups, the Mujahideen Army and the Salaheddin al-Ayubi Brigades, issued separate claims for the downing of the helicopter with the former issuing a video apparently showing the attack.

The claims could not be verified.

The US has warned of a possible increase in violence once the results of Iraq’s parliamentary election are finally announced.

The Electoral Commission has said this will be on Friday.

Gunmen killed five policemen and one child in the town of Miqdadia north of Baghdad yesterday, and in a common rebel tactic, a car bomb exploded when reinforcements arrived. The attacks wounded 18 people.

Sunni Arab and secular parties complained of massive fraud in the December election but Sunni leaders are discussing joining a grand coalition government with Shi’ite Islamists and the Kurdish bloc.

Iraqi officials had hoped a high turnout of Sunni voters in the polls would help deflate an insurgency led by members of the minority community.

Rebels rarely challenge US air power from the ground but their suicide and roadside bombs have killed thousands of Iraqi and US forces and civilians.

Guerrillas in northern Iraq apparently shot down an armed US reconnaissance helicopter on Friday, killing its two pilots.

Only three small helicopters were confirmed as being shot down last year.

Washington hopes the election results will allow a consensus government to l emerge that can quell violence and allow US troops to begin withdrawing.

The pull-out issue will gain importance as Americans review progress in Iraq ahead of mid-term US elections in November.

Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein is scheduled to return to take the stand again on January 24, the eighth day of his trial for crimes against humanity.