17 DIE AS U.S. 'COPTERS DOWNED

AT LEAST 17 American servicemen were killed and five wounded last night in Northern Iraq when two helicopters crashed after one was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade.

The Black Hawks came down in Borsa, a residential area in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city.

One eye-witness said: "I saw a helicopter flying low and on fire.

"The other one was higher up, but the first climbed and hit it."

The copters belonged to the 101st Airborne Division, which controls Northern Iraq.

"I know one of the helicopters was hit on the tail wing," said one US officer.

This latest incident brings the total number of US troops killed in Iraq since George Bush declared the war was officially over to 165 - 38 in this week alone.

A total of 451 US servicemen have died since Iraq was invaded.

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