A commercial helicopter was shot down in Iraq today, and all nine people aboard are believed to have been killed.
The Russian-built aircraft was flying just north of Baghdad when it was hit, possibly by a rocket-propelled grenade, one source said.
US military sources said three crew and six passengers, all civilians, were on board. Their nationalities were not known, although it was believed that the crew may have been Bulgarian.
"It was a contract aircraft that was not being used by the military," the US army source in Iraq said. "We are trying to investigate right now what happened, but we believe it was shot by small arms fire, possibly by a rocket-propelled grenade."
Insurgents often fire on US aircraft in Iraq and have brought down several helicopters in the past.
A US Chinook transporter was shot down west of Baghdad in November 2003, killing at least 16 US troops.
Ten British troops died on January 30th when a C-130 Hercules transport plane came down north of Baghdad. The cause remains unclear but officials have said it may have been shot down.