U.S. helicopter forced down near Baghdad (10/08/2007) BAGHDAD - A U.S. helicopter was forced down south of Baghdad on Friday, and two soldiers were injured, the military said. The incident occurred in the predominantly Sunni town of Youssifiyah, 10 miles south of the capital. The helicopter was en route to support a planned mission when it made the forced landing, the military said, adding the cause was not immediately clear from initial ground reports but was being investigated. The two soldiers sustained non-life threatening injuries, according to the statement. "Security forces and close-air support immediately responded to the site, providing security for the forces and the downed aircraft," it said. Youssifiyah is in the area south of Baghdad known as the triangle of death for the insurgent activity there. It was the second helicopter to go down in just over a week. On July 31, an AH-64 Apache helicopter went down after coming under fire in eastern Baghdad. The two crew members were safely evacuated, the military said. Insurgents also shot down a U.S. military helicopter south of Baghdad on July 3, and the two pilots were rescued with minor injuries, the military said. On Thursday hundreds of thousands of Shiites marched to a gold-domed mosque in harsh heat and sun in a pilgrimage of devotion to an 8th century saint that also starkly demonstrated their political power. Only scattered strikes by Sunni insurgents marred the event, held amid tight security to avoid the attacks that have occurred during past gatherings. "Long live Muqtada!" some pilgrims shouted as they paraded toward the Imam al-Kadhim shrine, referring to radical Shiite leader Muqtada al Sadr, whose Mahdi army is accused of death squad attacks. "May God kill his enemies!" A few shook their fists at U.S. soldiers standing alongside the procession route, but the march was mostly peaceful. Many said they intended their presence to show they could not be intimidated by Sunni insurgents who have devastated past gatherings, and who regularly target Shiites at markets and on buses. "I have come here to get the blessing of the martyr imam and to challenge the terrorism of the Wahhabists," said Hussein Mizaal, a 21-year-old college student from southeastern Baghdad. He was referring to the austere Wahhabi strain of Sunni Islam, practiced mostly in Saudi Arabia but also identified with Sunni insurgents. "We are not afraid of anyone except God," Mizaal said. The march comes as Iraq's government remains sharply divided, unable to meet key U.S.-sought benchmarks like a new oil law. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite who heads the unity government but is accused of bias by Sunnis, was in Iran to talk about security and electricity deals. Separately, the U.S. military said Friday that an American helicopter was forced down south of Baghdad and two soldiers were injured. On Thursday, the military announced the deaths of two Marines in Anbar province west of Baghdad - one in fighting and the other in a non-combat incident. Both died Tuesday. [edited] Source: Yahoo! News / posted by Flyboy