+ F9 m7 |- B$ U8 p- y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。& ^& b Y* l( O% L
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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。 . c2 W; _/ F" V , n! c& N. D8 XU.S. helicopter goes down after coming under fire south of Baghdad: Iraqi army official 2 Q# E$ S) w# g: }+ `7 G- u3 X( B* k+ \
BAGHDAD: 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.; {3 ]0 `% C9 ]1 e1 j- c
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Gunmen 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. & N& o0 n D( P- ` ) P. \: ?9 m& g8 }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.9 q6 ~: |% q8 V3 d( g
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Latifiyah is part of the area dubbed the Triangle of Death because of frequent insurgent attacks. r6 }: {7 x ]5 ~3 L; T0 L
4 C7 _8 f: l% Z9 T- f) f4 M' XThe 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.9 Y! K2 X) n( O% r5 a; X6 F# s: |
0 K) G/ r9 {$ C8 `; |: S6 LWith Thursday's incident, at least nine U.S. helicopters have crashed or been brought down by hostile fire this year in Iraq.
