BAGHDAD, Jan. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Two US pilots were killed when their Apache combat helicopter went down north of Baghdad on Monday, the US military said in a statement.

    The AH-64 Apache was conducting a combat air patrol when it "crashed in a swampy area north of Taji," an area "known for terrorist activity", the statement said, without giving the cause of the crash.

    Earlier, an Iraqi insurgent group claimed it shot down a US Apache helicopter with an anti-aircraft missile north of Baghdad. The Dubai-based al-Arabiya television channel said the helicopter was hit by a rocket near the town of Meshahadah, some 30 km north of Baghdad.

    It was the third US helicopter crash in Iraq within ten days. An OH-58 Kiowa Warrior reconnaissance helicopter crashed near the northern city of Mosul on Friday, killing two pilots. On Jan. 7, a UH-60 Black Hawk with eight soldiers and four civilians aboard crashed near the northwestern city of Tal Afar. Enditem