US helicopter 'shot down' in Iraq

An Apache Longbow in UK service

A US military helicopter lost in Iraq on Saturday is believed to have been shot down and the two pilots are feared dead, the US military has said.

The Apache Longbow was lost near Yussifiya, south of Baghdad, at 1730 local time (1330 GMT) on Saturday.

An insurgent group said it carried out the attack, in an unverified statement on the internet.

The latest deaths come as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Iraq for talks with political leaders.

The US military said in a statement: "The two pilots are presumed dead, but recovery efforts continue. As reported earlier the aircraft was conducting a combat air patrol."

A statement posted on the internet from a group calling itself the al-Rashideen Army said it had brought the helicopter down. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.

The US military has lost at least 47 helicopters in Iraq, at least 26 of them because of hostile fire.

There have been more than 2,300 US military deaths in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003.