US helicopter 'shot down' south of Baghdad

A US helicopter went down after coming under fire today in a Sunni militant stronghold south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

There was no immediate word on casualties, an Iraqi army official said. The US military said it was looking into the report.

Gunmen opened fire on a Black Hawk helicopter at about 7.30am local time as it flew over Latifiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, the official said.

The helicopter went down in a rural area and US forces had cordoned off the site. The official had no information on casualties, but said the militants apparently were using an anti-aircraft heavy machine gun.

Latifiyah is part of the area dubbed the Triangle of Death because of frequent insurgent attacks.

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.

With today’s incident, at least nine US helicopters have crashed or been brought down by hostile fire this year in Iraq.