U.S. forces attacked a guerrilla camp northwest of Baghdad Thursday with air raids and ground troops, and battled irregular Iraqi fighters who brought down an Apache helicopter in the west of Iraq. Lieutenant General David McKiernan, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, declined to say whether the Apache was shot down during the assault on what the U.S. army called a “terrorist training camp.” He said the camp was attacked with “lethal force” in an operation that was still under way. A U.S. army statement said the two-member crew of the Apache AH-64 were rescued unhurt, and two other Apaches engaged Iraqi fighters in the area. It was the first time a U.S. helicopter had been shot down since the end of the Iraq war. Officials in the U.S.-led administration said several Iraqis had been killed in the raid on the guerrilla camp 90 miles northwest of Baghdad. The army said the raid was part of “the continued effort to eradicate Baath Party loyalists, paramilitary groups and other subversive elements,” but gave no details on the camp. Full Story
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