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Iraq

U.S. helicopter crash kills two pilots in Iraq

MOSUL, Iraq - Insurgents apparently shot down a U.S. Army reconnaissance helicopter in this northern city Friday, killing its two pilots, in the second fatal helicopter crash in Iraq in less than a week.

The helicopter's two pilots - the only people aboard - were killed.

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 OH-58 Kiowa was shot down. "The indicators are that it was due to hostile fire," he said.

The armed helicopter was on a combat air patrol just outside Forward Operating Base Courage when it went down in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, the military said.

The helicopter crash came nearly a week after a Black Hawk helicopter carrying eight U.S. troops and four American civilians went down near the northern city of Tal Afar, killing all aboard. Pentagon officials said the cause was still being investigated, although bad weather was reported in the area at the time.

In Baqouba, a car bomb killed two police officers and wounded six people, said Ahmed Hassan of the city morgue.

While the last three days have been generally quiet, as the country observes the Islamic feast of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, Vines said the insurgents "have not given up. They have not gone away. They have not gone home."

[Last modified January 14, 2006, 01:39:15]