Update 11:08am: CAIRO, Egypt (AP) Al-Qaida-linked Sunni insurgents have claimed responsibility for the downing of a U.S. military helicopter northwest of Baghdad.

GET US OUT!!!! Looks like Iraqis have figured out pretty well how to take a helicopter down. No doubt, it will be Iran’s fault.

- The U.S. military said it was checking reports that a helicopter, possibly a Chinook transport aircraft, had either crashed or made an emergency landing near Baghdad on Wednesday.

An Iraqi policeman who had been to the area northwest of Baghdad told Reuters he had seen wreckage on the ground. One witness who said he saw the helicopter come down also said he had seen wreckage.

U.S. soldiers had moved in to secure the area, witnesses said.

“We have heard about this … but I cannot confirm anything at this stage,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.

The U.S. military said on Sunday it was adjusting its tactics in Iraq after four helicopters were shot down over a two-week period.

Those helicopters were shot down in four separate incidents in which 21 U.S. servicemen and private security contractors were killed. Dozens of U.S. helicopters have come down, some hit by missiles or gunfire, in four years of fighting in Iraq.

Read more at ABCNews

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