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U.S. Helicopter Down In Iraq

A U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter was shot down Tuesday morning near the western town of Habbaniyah — the third helicopter downed in the region in less than two weeks.

The two crew members of the AH-64 gunship were safe, and the U.S. military has secured the area, said military spokesman Col. William Darley.

"It was apparently downed by enemy fire," Darley said. "I understand they were not hurt."

The helicopter belongs to the U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which operates the air base north of the town of Habbaniyah, near where the incident occurred. A U.S. military quick reaction force rescued the crew members.

The region west of Baghdad that includes Habbaniyah is a hotbed of anti-U.S. guerrilla activity and the scene of several previous helicopter shootdowns.

Despite the news of the latest attack on U.S. aircraft, U.S. administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer told CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith that attacks on coalition forces were on the decline.

"They're down by about 50 percent," Bremer said, pointing to the capture of Saddam Hussein as the catalyst. "It doesn't mean we won't continue to take casualties. We will. But I think we have found since the arrest of Saddam a better way to go after the insurgency. We have more intelligence about who they are. And even more important, we're finding a lot of people who were sitting on the fence beforehand are now coming over and providing us information, saying they want to work with the coalition. This is good news."

In other developments:

  • Hundreds of people demonstrated Tuesday to protest the arrest of a young woman in Fallujah, the third Iraqi city to explode in public anger against the U.S.-led occupation in as many days.
  • In Baghdad, mortar shells exploded late Monday, shattering windows and causing minor damage to homes in the east of the city. At least two projectiles exploded near center city hotels favored by Westerners but caused no casualties.
  • Also Monday, Ukrainian troops in the southern Shiite city of Kut fired bullets in the air to control a riot by hundreds of people demanding food and jobs. The demonstrators also hurled explosives, injuring one Ukrainian soldier and four Iraqi policemen, said Lt. Zafer Wedad, an Iraqi police official.
  • American military officials said Monday that insurgent attacks against coalition forces declined to a daily average of 17 in the past week, compared with 30 before Saddam was captured Dec. 13. Most of the attacks are believed carried out by supporters of the ousted regime.
  • The Army said Monday that U.S. soldiers shot dead seven of the estimated 40 members of an armed gang allegedly trying to steal oil from a pipeline south of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

    On Jan. 8, a U.S. Army Black Hawk medevac helicopter was shot down by a rocket near Fallujah, killing all nine U.S. soldiers aboard. Fallujah lies just 12 miles from Habbaniyah.

    A statement by the 82nd Airborne Division said the Black Hawk was on a "routine medical flight" at the time of the crash.

    On Jan. 2, an Army OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter was shot down, also near Fallujah. The pilot, 27-year-old Army Capt. Kimberly Hampton, was killed and the second pilot was injured. Hampton, who was based at Fort Bragg, N.C., was the first female pilot killed in Iraq.

    Family members came forward Tuesday claiming U.S. soldiers opened fire on a car in Baghdad, killing the driver and a 10-year-old boy, moments after an Army vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.

    One soldier was killed in the Monday bombing, the U.S. military said.

    Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling, a deputy commander of the division responsible for security in the Iraqi capital, said the shooting "has not been confirmed" and the Army is investigating.

    The shooting occurred near the Oil Ministry when the car passed two Humvees on patrol, said Wijdan Abdel Wahab, whose two sisters, two nephews and a niece were in the car.

    The family was coming back from the hospital, where an aunt was undergoing treatment for asthma.

    As the vehicle passed the convoy, one Humvee was hit by the roadside bomb and the other Humvee started shooting indiscriminately, Wijdan told The Associated Press.

    She said her nephew Mustafa Jamal Shaikly, 10, and the family driver, identified only as Haider, were killed by the gunfire. Mustafa's mother, Istabraq, 30, and aunt, Hayam, 40, were seriously wounded, Wijdan said.

    "We want to leave Iraq because of the Americans and the (U.S.-installed) Governing Council," a distraught and weeping Wijdan said at the hospital.

    She said Istabraq's other two children, Ahmed, 8, and Noor, 6, suffered minor bruises and cuts but were not shot.

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