Baghdad, Nov 02: Fifteen people died and 21 others were wounded when a US military helicopter was shot down flying to Baghdad international airport today morning, the coalition said. Meanwhile, other American soldiers were reported killed in ground attacks here and elsewhere in central Iraq, as insurgents pressed a campaign that has stepped up in recent days - a "tough week" - in the words of the US occupation chief.
In Abu Ghraib, on Baghdad`s western edge, US troops clashed with townspeople today for the second time in three days, and witnesses reported casualties among both the Americans and Iraqis. There was no immediate official confirmation. Witnesses south of Fallujah, 65 kilometres west of the capital, said they saw two missiles fired at the helicopter, which came down near the village of Hasi, 10 kilometres to the south. Fallujah is a centre of Sunni Muslim resistance to the US occupation.
"The Chinook was shot down by an unknown weapon," a US military spokesman in Baghdad said on condition of anonymity.
A coalition official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two people were killed and possibly more. Bureau Report