U.S. Helicopter Shot Down In Iraq, 13 Killed

"The search is still underway for survivors," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted him as adding.
The warplane was one of two Chinook helicopter gunships flying nearly 60 U.S. troops from a military base to Baghdad International Airport, to leave for recreation, reported the BBC News Online.
It was shot down near Fallujah, 50 kilometers west of the capital, which has become a death zone for the American occupation forces.
A U.S. military spokesman said the helicopter had been fired on with an "unknown weapon".
But reporting from the scene of the attack, CNN’s Jane Arraf said witnesses saw a shoulder-type missile strike the helicopter just before it crashed into a field in a farming area.
"They (U.S. forces) are controlling traffic, with guns at the ready. They are saying it is still a volatile area," she said.
"The area is in the middle of farmland, and it would be extremely easy for somebody to hide here and launch a missile, which is what witnesses are saying."
This is the deadliest combat day for the U.S. since March 23, the day 28 American troops died in battle, according to CNN.
Eight days ago, a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed near the northern town of Tikrit after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Jubilant

Iraqis displayed blackened pieces of wreckage to journalists, and in nearby Falluja residents celebrated in the streets, reported the BBC.

"This was a new lesson from the resistance, a lesson to the greedy aggressors," one Iraqi told the Associated Press news agency.

"They’ll never be safe until they get out of our country."