Baghdad - Nine US soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed west of the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the US army said Thursday.

The Chinook helicopter had not come under fire and the crash appeared to have been an accident, the army said in a statement also correcting an initial death toll of five.

The forces had been en route from Kuwait to the military base Balad north of Baghdad.

The military also reported that two US soldiers were shot near a base in Iskandariyah south of Baghdad last Sunday. They were believed to have been killed by a US soldier who had been arrested, the army said without giving further details. (dpa)