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Helicopter crash kills 2 Americans

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 16, 2006

BAGHDAD - Insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter during a raid against al-Qaida militants south of Baghdad and killed two soldiers, bringing the weekend death toll of American service members to seven, the U.S. military said Monday.

The military also said American forces killed more than 40 militants, including an al-Qaida operative, in five raids south of Baghdad in an area known as the "Triangle of Death" because of the large number of insurgent attacks.

The U.S. hopes a national unity government that includes Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds will sap the insurgency's strength, but Iraqi politicians struggled against a deadline to form such a government. And with at least 20 Iraqis killed in roadside bombings and drive-by shootings Monday, sectarian violence continued.

The helicopter was downed after a U.S. operation in Youssifiyah, about 12 miles south of Baghdad. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, a coalition of insurgent groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, claimed responsibility in a statement.

Other Americans killed over the weekend included two U.S. Marines who died Sunday during unspecified "enemy action" in Anbar province, the area of western Iraq that is the heart of the Sunni-led insurgency. Two soldiers died Sunday in a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad, and another died in a roadside bomb in the capital Saturday.

[Last modified May 16, 2006, 06:58:53]