KABUL, Afghanistan — A NATO helicopter crashed Tuesday in southern
Afghanistan, killing nine international troops in a region where forces
are ramping up pressure on Taliban insurgents. It was the deadliest
chopper crash for the coalition in four years.
The cause was not
immediately clear. The Taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter,
but NATO said there were no reports of hostile fire.
It happened
in Zabul province — rugged terrain where helicopters are heavily used to
transport military troops spread over mountainous areas with few roads.
The
nationalities of the service members who died have not been released.
One other coalition service member, an Afghan National Army soldier and a
U.S. civilian were injured.
So far this year, 525 U.S. and NATO
forces have been killed in Afghanistan, surpassing the 504 killed last
year. This year has been the deadliest for international forces since
the war began in 2001.
The helicopter crash occurred in
northwestern Zabul province, according to a NATO official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the
location of the crash. Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, a spokesman for the
provincial governor in Zabul, said the helicopter went down in Daychopan
district.
"I was sitting taking my tea," said Nakeemullah, 20,
who works transporting livestock in the area. "I heard noise and I went
outside to see what happened.
"I saw a lot of smoke in the sky,"
said Nakeemullah, who uses only one name. "It was far away for me, but I
could see that it was a helicopter and it went down on the backside of
the mountain where I couldn't see."
Read More..
No comments:
Post a Comment