December 11 2003 at 12:09PM

Apache may have been shot down, say US troops

Mosul - An Apache helicopter that crash-landed near the northern city of Mosul may have been hit by ground fire while making a low pass over the area, American soldiers said on Thursday.

A military spokesperson insisted that Wednesday's incident was caused by mechanical failure and that the crew, who were uninjured, reported no ground fire. But a commander later said that he didn't know whether ground fire brought down the chopper from the 101st Airborne Division.

Meanwhile, an explosion on a pipeline in northern Iraq on Thursday caused officials to halt pumping on the line, a security officer said. Firefighters were trying to extinguish the blaze. It was unclear how important the pipeline was.
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The Apache came down near a highway 19km south of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, which has been the site of escalating anti-occupation resistance in recent weeks.

'The helicopter was shot down'

Troops guarding the site where the burned-out wreckage was still smouldering on Thursday morning said the chopper had been hit by enemy fire while flying over the area on patrol at low altitude. They asked not to be identified.

"The helicopter was shot down," one said.

A military spokesperson blamed the incident on mechanical failure, but Brigadier General Frank Helmick of the 101st later said the cause of the crash was unclear.

"We don't know what happened," he said. "It could have been a mechanical failure but again, we are looking at all possibilities."

Mosul was the site of the deadliest incident so far involving US forces. On November 17, two Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed, killing 17 soldiers. Although military spokespeople initially insisted that the collision was the result of an accident, officers have since acknowledged that ground fire was the likely cause.

'We don't know what happened'

Ghazi al-Talabani, director of the Northern Field Protection Force that guards pipelines in northern Iraq, said an explosion early on Thursday set a pipeline ablaze, forcing officials to halt the flow.