A U.S. military helicopter crashed southwest of Baghdad on Saturday, but it was still unclear if there were any casualties.

"The status of the crew is unknown," the U.S. military said in a statement, without detailing the number of the crew on board and the type of the helicopter.

"The aircraft was conducting a combat air patrol," the statement said, adding the time of the crash was around 5:30 p.m. (1430 GMT).

On Jan. 16, two U.S. pilots were killed when their Apache combat helicopter went down north of Baghdad.

On Jan. 7, a UH-60 Black Hawk crashed near the northwestern city of Tal Afar, killing 12 people on board.

Source: Xinhua