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A US reconnaissance helicopter that crashed in western Iraq on Friday was shot down by hostile fire, the US military confirmed.
The 82nd Airborne Division troops deployed in central Iraq "are fairly convinced it was enemy fire," US senior spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters.
But the exact weapon used by insurgents that brought down the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter was not known yet, said the general.
One US soldier was killed and another wounded when the plane crashed around midday in Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad.
A group of five individuals dressed up as journalists arrived at the site of crash and started to fire rocket-propelled grenades, Kimmitt said, adding that four of the gunmen had been chased and arrested.
Fallujah was the scene of the crash of a Chinook helicopter on Nov. 2, resulting in death of 16 soldiers, and an OH-58 Delta Kiowa on Dec. 9 which injured two US crew members.
Insurgents have forced down at least five US military helicopters across the country in the past two months.
While admitting that the planes came under hostile fire before crashlanding, the US military usually stopped short of confirming they were shot down by ground weapons.
(Xinhua News Agency January 3, 2004)
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