; _$ [- e6 c2 K* Y6 g据悉，拉蒂菲耶位于有「死亡三角区」之称的巴格达南部村镇地带，是逊尼派武装人员的一个据点。 ! W' O: P6 H/ U& V . l- U! |/ i' s4 R) y6 `( u美军直升机最近一次在巴格达失事发生于上个月1日，一架OH-58D「奇欧瓦」(KIOWA)侦察直升机在伊拉克北部「硬着陆」，两名飞行员受伤。此前一个星期，美军另一架「黑鹰」直升机在巴格达北部坠毁。 + ^$ v9 @- D9 ~- ~& O6 e 3 _0 F" g0 Z/ DU.S. helicopter goes down after coming under fire south of Baghdad: Iraqi army official8 Q, q1 m$ t) r W- k8 G: D
# c0 j- d' D- h& p% q* qBAGHDAD: A U.S. helicopter went down after coming under fire Thursday in a Sunni militant stronghold south of Baghdad but there was no immediate word on casualties, an Iraqi army official said. The U.S. military said it was looking into the report. / U; ?) ?! I) D5 j' ^3 g& F: L4 U : r+ E. i& H3 \+ j$ zGunmen opened fire on a Black Hawk helicopter at about 7:30 a.m. as it flew over Latifiyah, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. 0 F }0 e0 _+ e: ~8 q1 ~3 k1 T; e+ P9 f5 T( L' Z' ^7 O5 A
The helicopter went down in a rural area and U.S. forces had cordoned off the site, the official said. He had no information on casualties but said the militants apparently were using anti-aircraft heavy machine gun.' a$ g* y2 k) @: g
v+ {+ @. X( r" X# k/ ]1 L2 iLatifiyah is part of the area dubbed the Triangle of Death because of frequent insurgent attacks. / c7 i+ o0 z8 t, {4 e9 u2 H8 \1 U( u' ~8 l! K& {6 W$ m, k: P
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. - E n* G; b; I( { Y% Z) q/ Q3 Z" NWith Thursday's incident, at least nine U.S. helicopters have crashed or been brought down by hostile fire this year in Iraq.
