Fifteen US soldiers killed in helicopter strike

GUERRILLAS shot down an American helicopter in Iraq yesterday, killing at least 15 US soldiers and wounding 21 in the deadliest single strike on US-led forces since they invaded Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein.

The crippled Chinook helicopter came down in farmland at 9am near the village of Baisa, south of Falluja, a fiercely anti-US town 30 miles west of the capital.

US helicopters circled above the smoking wreckage. Other helicopters and US Humvee vehicles were parked nearby. US Army spokesman Colonel William Darley told reporters the cause of the crash was under investigation.