! K% i8 }. @9 L/ O/ b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。 " Y7 S1 t. `9 h# h" d% }. q8 F0 T + m7 S: c+ U( A! C7 E* @9 OU.S. helicopter goes down after coming under fire south of Baghdad: Iraqi army official ) v9 n- J2 g' o! n# B4 n$ I _$ j$ R) f3 N: n2 M
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. - a5 y0 R# |2 V" C7 c; c. ?' G* t. H' E6 P& z
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. m4 L/ t) t% C5 A( E1 ? & r* j/ a7 A* M4 I5 I6 `, h' bThe 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. M* @: q! O2 i$ h% N. @ & W& J+ G0 _+ m" n" l2 G0 OLatifiyah is part of the area dubbed the Triangle of Death because of frequent insurgent attacks. 5 I! N! ]; H$ |' m( o( r* V; D- P* T6 U1 Y9 Q; o
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.; j2 L) i/ V8 C( \: \7 J
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With Thursday's incident, at least nine U.S. helicopters have crashed or been brought down by hostile fire this year in Iraq.
