BAGHDAD, Jan 20: Thirteen US troops were killed on Saturday when a military helicopter crashed northeast of Baghdad, a military spokesman told AFP. “A military helicopter went down in the afternoon today northeast of Baghdad with 13 troops on board,” Lt-Col Josslyn L Aberle said.

A separate military statement said that all the 13 people on board were killed.

Lt-Col Aberle said that of the 13, “nine were passengers and four were crew members.”

The statement said emergency coalition forces had secured the crash site and “this incident is under investigation.”

The latest fatalities from the helicopter crash brought the military's total losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 3,039, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.

—AFP