A United States helicopter made an emergency landing on Tuesday near the town of Fallujah west of Baghdad, apparently after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
The US military said an OH-58 Kiowa observation helicopter from the 82nd Airborne Division made a ”controlled landing” at 2.30pm near Fallujah. A spokesperson said he had no further details about the incident.
Omar Ali, a reporter with Associated Press Television News, said two helicopters were flying in formation near the city, about 60km west of the capital, when one was struck by a grenade fired from the ground.
It went down immediately in an open field, Ali said. The aircraft appeared structurally intact, but smoke was billowing from it.
Two other helicopters with red crosses emblazoned on their sides landed nearby a few minutes later, he said.
On November 2, 16 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division died when insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter near Fallujah, a hotspot of anti-American resistance since the end of the war that ousted the regime of former president Saddam Hussein.
In the deadliest single incident so far for US soldiers, two Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed in the northern city of Mosul on November 17, killing 17 soldiers. US commanders said the crash was caused by ground fire. — Sapa-AP