BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. air strikes in and around Baghdad killed senior insurgents suspected of targeting U.S. helicopters and seven members of what the U.S. military said on Saturday was an al Qaeda cell responsible for car bombings. The U.S. military said an air strike on Friday north of Baghdad near the town of Taji, which is home to a major U.S. air base, destroyed weaponry including a vehicle mounted with anti-aircraft artillery.
"Coalition forces believe key terrorists were killed during the air strike ... Intelligence reports indicated this network is responsible for threats to coalition aircraft," the military said in a statement, without elaborating.
Insurgents have shot down eight helicopters in Iraq since January 20, killing 28 people, mostly soldiers. Six of those helicopters were U.S. military aircraft and two belonged to a private American security firm.
U.S. commanders say insurgents appear to be targeting helicopters to undermine a security crackdown in Baghdad that began last month and is regarded as a last ditch effort to stop Iraq from tearing itself apart.
The U.S. military said another air strike in Arab Jabour in southern Baghdad on Saturday killed seven al Qaeda suspects thought responsible for a large number of suicide car bombings.
After being fired on by insurgents on the opposite side of the Tigris river, U.S. forces called in aircraft which dropped two bombs, setting off a secondary explosion the U.S. military said indicated the targeted building contained explosives.
A U.S. spokesman said there were no civilian casualties in the strike.