Helicopter crash kills 7 US troops in Iraq

BAGHDAD - An American Chinook helicopter crashed today in southern Iraq, killing seven US soldiers, the military said.

The CH-47 Chinook was landing shortly after midnight about 60 miles west of Basra when it crashed, the US statement said. A spokesman for the Multi-National Force-Iraq said hostile fire was not suspected.

The chopper was a part of a convoy flying from Kuwait to the US military base at Balad, just north of Baghdad. The Chinook, the Army's workhorse, is designed to transport troops and supplies.

The statement said the crash was under investigation.

Separately, a US soldier died of noncombat-related causes yesterday, and an investigation into the cause of death was under way, the military said.

Also yesterday, gunmen killed a Sunni assistant to the governor of one of Iraq's most volatile provinces, the latest in a series of attacks that have marred the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Shamil Younis, an engineer who handled technical affairs for Governor Duraid Kashmola, was killed in a drive-by shooting as he walked home after prayers at a mosque in Mosul, police said. The attack occurred shortly after iftar, the meal that breaks the sunrise-to-sunset fast during Ramadan.

Kashmola, who is the governor of Ninevah Province, of which Mosul is the capital, survived an apparent assassination attempt this summer.

The deadliest attack yesterday was a double car bombing in western Baghdad, which killed at least eight people and wounded 20, a police officer said.

The US military gave a lower casualty toll, saying three Iraqi civilians were killed.