Chopper downed; 2 Army pilots die

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two U.S. pilots were killed in northern Iraq Friday when their helicopter was shot down by insurgents, the U.S. Army said. It was the second fatal helicopter crash involving U.S. forces in less than a week and the 31st since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The two-seat armed OH-58D Kiowa went down while on combat patrol with another U.S. helicopter in Mosul, about 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Hostile fire was reported in the area where the craft went down, the military said. Under cover of the surviving helicopter, ground units from the 172 Stryker Brigade Combat Team sealed off the area.

The Associated Press quoted an officer of the brigade saying the gunmen fled into a nearby mosque. The Army did not say whether anyone was detained.

The bodies of the two crew members were recovered but their names were not released.

The crash came as Lt. Gen. John Vines, chief of the Multi-National Corps Iraq, predicted increased attacks around Iraq when final election results are released next week. At least 500 people and more than 50 U.S. troops have been killed since the Dec. 15 elections.

Vines, the second highest ranking general in Iraq, said from Baghdad's Camp Victory that there were indications the Kiowa was shot down. "The indicators are that it was due to hostile fire," he said.

The crash deaths bring to at least 2,214 the number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq since the war began, according to The Associated Press.

Layth Shems al-Din said he was working in his butcher shop when he heard shots that he recognized from his service in the Iraqi army as coming from a heavy machine gun.

"At the same time, there was a helicopter hovering at a low level and after that I heard a strange sound from the helicopter, and then I heard the sound of a crash, but not an explosion," said al-Din, 29.

He and Ayad Abdul Razzaq, 35, a manager of a tourist agency, said the crash occurred as the helicopters flew over Mosul's al-Sukar neighborhood. They said the aircraft went down near the al-Sayegh mosque.

Razzaq said that after hearing the "strange sound, smoke came from the helicopter before it fell."

Maj. Richard Greene, executive officer of the 172nd Stryker Brigade's 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, said the helicopter "was responding to small-arms fire being taken by Iraqi police."

Greene said the gunmen were not found.

Eight U.S. troops and four American civilians died Sunday when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in bad weather near the northern city of Tall Afar, about 40 miles west of Mosul.

Elsewhere Friday, two other incidents marred the lull in violence that had accompanied the four-day feast of Eid al-Adha.

U.S. soldiers killed an Iraqi police officer shortly after he left the station in Duluiyah, about 55 miles north of Baghdad, said Capt. Mahmoud Jibouri of the Duluiyah police. The officer was driving home in uniform when he was shot about 3 p.m., Jibouri said.

A spokesman for the Army said he had no information on the report.

Two Iraqi policemen were killed in the volatile city of Baqouba, 30 miles north of Baghdad, by a remotely detonated car bomb. The explosive, set off at a taxi stop, targeted a convoy, said 1st Lt. Mohammed Salman. Five other officers and a civilian were injured, and several cars destroyed.

Also on Friday, anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr met with officials in Saudi Arabia while on the Hajj pilgrimage.

Al-Sadr, who was once wanted dead or alive by the U.S. military after his militia fought street battles with U.S. forces, had urged his followers to participate in the December election. He now appears to control 30 of the 275 seats in the newly elected National Assembly.

In a televised interview, al-Sadr said he was trying to enhance relations with Iraq's neighbor, a monarchy with close U.S. ties. Al-Sadr also said that he would consider meeting with Americans, but only after U.S. troops leave Iraq.

"If they leave the Iraqi borders, and if we thought there would be a benefit, we would meet with them," al-Sadr said.

Los Angeles Times reporter Saif Rasheed in Baghdad contributed to this report, which was supplemented by The Associated Press.