Al-Qaeda In Iraq Claims Downing Of U.S. Helicopter

(RFE/RL) 3 November 2005 -- An Internet statement purportedly coming from Al-Qaeda in Iraq claims to have shot down a U.S. attack helicopter that crashed near Ramadi, west of Baghdad today.

Two members of the helicopter's crew were reported killed.

The U.S. military said witnesses reported seeing a projectile fired at a helicopter. It said the cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Al-Qaeda also said today the two Moroccan Embassy employees kidnapped in Iraq in October will be killed.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said today that two of its soldiers were killed in Iraq yesterday. One soldier was killed in Baghdad, another one near Balad, some 90 kilometers north of the capital.

(compiled from wire reports)