US helicopter 'shot down' in Iraq

A US helicopter has come down in southern Iraq after apparently coming under heavy fire from insurgents, according to reports by witnesses.

They said the helicopter came under attack near Latifiya, 40km (25 miles) south of the capital, Baghdad.

The US military confirmed a helicopter had gone down with four people injured. But it did not specify the cause.

The US has lost more than 50 military helicopters in Iraq since the invasion with the loss of a number of soldiers.

A major security operation in Baghdad has resulted in a decrease in the number of attacks on coalition troops there, the US military says.

However, the deaths of eight coalition soldiers were announced on Thursday - four British and four American - as well as of at least 10 Iraqi soldiers.

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The Iraqis died when about 40 gunmen attacked a checkpoint north-west of the northern city of Mosul, setting the soldiers' vehicles on fire and seizing their weapons.

The British soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack on the western edge of Basra city in southern Iraq.

A civilian interpreter was also killed - his nationality has not been confirmed.

And the US troops died in two separate incidents in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Pattern study?

At the site of the helicopter crash, witnesses described hearing weapons fire from the ground.

"I saw a helicopter in the sky, then I heard heavy gunfire," said one witness, quoted by Reuters news agency.

"I saw the helicopter move right and left before landing hard. It did not explode."

An unnamed Iraqi official said the militants were apparently using an anti-aircraft machine gun.

At least nine US helicopters have crashed or been brought down by insurgent attacks in Iraq this year alone.

The attacks have raised fears that insurgents may be studying flight patterns or may have acquired more advanced weapons.