A US helicopter was downed on Friday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, US military said.

A US Army OH-58 Kiowa reconnaissance helicopter crashed near Mosul, the third largest Iraqi city some 400 km north of Baghdad, after the aircraft was called to support backup to Iraqi police under hostile fire.

It was not immediately known if the helicopter was shot down by insurgents. Both pilots of the ill-fated helicopter were alive but unconscious when they were evacuated, according to the US Army.

It was the second US helicopter which crashed in norther Iraq in less than a week. A military UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed on Saturday, killing all 12 people aboard.

Source: Xinhua