US soldier killed in July 4 chopper crash in Iraq

BAGHDAD - One US soldier was killed and a second wounded on Wednesday when a US helicopter came down in northern Iraq on US independence day, the military said.
The helicopter came down in Nineveh province, centred on the main northern city of Mosul, the military said, adding: "The incident is under investigation."
The soldier was the second US serviceman confirmed dead on July 4. The other died while conducting combat operations in south Baghdad, where US-led forces are pressing a four-month-old security plan.
The deaths took the military's losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 3,580, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.
At least 13 US helicopters, two of them operated by private contractors, have crashed in Iraq so far this year, the majority of them brought down by hostile fire.

07/04/2007 18:15 GMT