Third US Army helicopter downed in two days

A US ARMY Apache attack helicopter was shot down yesterday, the third downed in less than two weeks and witnesses said American troops killed four civilians in two incidents, after coming under attack.

Ukrainian troops opened fire to disperse a crowd of several hundred protesters demanding jobs in the southeastern city of Kut. One man was killed and two others were wounded.

The American AH-64 helicopter gunship was shot down near the town of Habbaniyah, in the west, near where a medivac helicopter was downed on Tuesday, killing all nine soldiers on board. A Kiowa Warrior helicopter was shot down in the area on January 2, killing the pilot.

The AH-64’s two-person crew was unhurt, military spokesman Col William Darley said. “It was apparently downed by enemy fire,” he said.

Habbaniyah is 12 miles from Fallujah, in the so-called “Sunni Triangle,” a region that has been the centre of guerrilla attacks on American forces.

Two incidents in Fallujah and Baghdad were the latest in a growing number of cases of civilians being shot by American soldiers.

American troops positioned at Fallujah city hall were attacked by rocket-propelled grenades. The troops opened fire, killing two people and injuring four, witnesses, police and hospital staff said.

In Baghdad the day before, a roadside bomb went off near a US checkpoint, hitting a Humvee and killing a soldier.

Soldiers in another Humvee started shooting, hitting a car carrying civilians, said Wijdan Abdel Wahab, a relative of the car’s passengers.

Abdel Wahab’s 10-year-old nephew, and the family driver were killed, she said.