US says two killed in Iraq helicopter crash

Baghdad, Jan 29: Two US soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed north of the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf today, the US military said.

Earlier a Reuters reporter saw a U.S. helicopter come down after a burst of machine gun fire. He saw a trail of smoke from the helicopter before it came down. Iraqi police said it had crashed during a battle north of Najaf in which 250 gunmen were killed.

A US statement said the helicopter ''went down'' but did not give details.

Reuters