Iraqi official: US security helicopter shot down

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A senior Iraqi defense official said a private US security company helicopter was shot down over central Baghdad Tuesday. The official, who would not allow use of his name because the information had not been made public, said a gunman with PKC machinegun downed the small helicopter Tuesday afternoon over the heavily Sunni Fadhil neighborhood in north-central Baghdad. A US military official in the Middle East confirmed the helicopter had gone down in a heavily populated Baghdad neighborhood but had no information on why or how many were on board. That official also refused to be identified because he was not authorized to release the information.