03 January 2004	Saturday	10 Ziqa'ad 1424

FALLUJA, Jan 2: Guerillas shot down a US military helicopter in central Iraq on Friday, killing one pilot and injuring another, officials and witnesses said.

The OH-58 observation chopper crashed in Falluja, west of Baghdad, after it came under enemy fire, the US Central Command said.

A policeman who witnessed the crash said the aircraft was apparently hit by a missile. "We were in a joint patrol with US troops to remove landmines and I saw a helicopter hovering in the sky which was hit by a missile," policeman Mohammad Abdul Aziz said. "It was split into two and went down in flames."-Reuters