Indications US army helicopter was shot down

A US army reconnaissance helicopter went down in northern Mosul, Iraq, today and its two pilots were killed, the US military said, while a senior officer said it may have been shot down.

Lt Gen John Vines, chief of the Multi-National Corps Iraq, told Pentagon reporters that there were indications the OH-58 Kiowa crash was due to hostile fire.

Both of its crew were killed in the crash said Lt Col. Barry Johnson, a US military spokesman in Baghdad.

The helicopter was on a combat air patrol with another Kiowa when it went down.

The two crew were not identified pending identification of next of kin.