Qaeda-led group claims downing of US craft in Iraq

DUBAI, May 30 (Reuters) The al Qaeda-led Islamic State in Iraq group claimed responsibility today for the downing of a US helicopter that killed two soldiers in the volatile eastern province of Diyala earlier this week.

''God enabled the soldiers of the Islamic State in Iraq to down a Super Cobra aircraft ... in Diyala and kill the two Crusader pilots aboard,'' it said in a statement posted on Web sites used by al Qaeda-linked groups.

''It was attacked with air defence weapons and destroyed in the air, catching fire and exploding, its pieces flying in the skies over the area.'' The attack on the helicopter late on Monday, made May the deadliest month this year for US troops in Iraq.

Around 3,000 reinforcements have been sent to Diyala province to combat a rise in violence. Troops heading to the crash site were struck by roadside bombs that killed six.

The US military has said it anticipated heavier casualties when it began pouring thousands of extra troops into Baghdad and other areas as part of security crackdown aimed at averting all-out sectarian civil war.

REUTERS LPB HS1436