File photo: U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters

    BAGHDAD, Nov. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The death toll from the crash of two US Black Hawk helicopters in northern Iraq on Saturday rose to 17, the US military in Baghdad confirmed.

    "Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters assigned to the 101st Airborne Division crashed in west Mosul at approximately 6:30 p.m.(1530 GMT)" Saturday, said a military spokesman.

    "Seventeen soldiers died in crash, five were wounded and one is unaccounted for," he said, adding that the wounded have been sent to a combat hospital at the Mosul airfield.

    Earlier the military said 12 coalition soldiers were killed andnine were wounded.

    It was not clear if the helicopters were brought down by hostile fire or because of an accident, and the spokesman said the coalition "will not speculate on the cause of the crashes."

    One of the aircraft was carrying an aerial quick reaction forcewhile the other was carrying soldiers on a transport mission when they crashed in a residential neighborhood in Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad.

    The pilots were in limited visibility with night vision goggles,said the spokesman.

    Some witnesses in the northern city said they saw two helicopters collide with each other after a projectile was fired from the ground.

    Arab TV channels said one of the planes was spotted on a bridgein the Borza neighborhood and a fire probably caused after the crash spread to adjacent houses.

    Great concern over the vulnerability of US helicopters have been raised following the downing of two helicopters killing 22 US soldiers and wounding 26 others earlier this month.

    The incident occurred as the Iraqi Governing Council unveiled a political transformation plan that envisions the end of the US-led occupation of Iraq by mid-2004. Enditem