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| Foreigners Among as Many as 11 Civilians Feared Abducted by Taliban | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| KABUL — A civilian helicopter made a forced landing because of bad weather in an insurgent-held area of eastern Afghanistan late Sunday and the three crew members and their passengers may have been abducted, said local officials and the helicopter company that operated the aircraft. | KABUL — A civilian helicopter made a forced landing because of bad weather in an insurgent-held area of eastern Afghanistan late Sunday and the three crew members and their passengers may have been abducted, said local officials and the helicopter company that operated the aircraft. |
| The aircraft landed in Azra district of Logar Province, a vast and thinly populated mountainous area in the far east of the province that has little government presence. | |
| Din Mohammed Darwish, the spokesman for the Logar provincial governor’s office said that the Mangal Khel area where the helicopter landed “is heavily controlled by the Taliban.” | Din Mohammed Darwish, the spokesman for the Logar provincial governor’s office said that the Mangal Khel area where the helicopter landed “is heavily controlled by the Taliban.” |
| He added that the provincial governor’s office had intelligence from locals that there may have been as many as 11 people on board — seven Turkish engineers and an Afghan translator as well as the crew. Other reports from Turkish news agencies suggested that some of the passengers were not Turks but from other countries. | He added that the provincial governor’s office had intelligence from locals that there may have been as many as 11 people on board — seven Turkish engineers and an Afghan translator as well as the crew. Other reports from Turkish news agencies suggested that some of the passengers were not Turks but from other countries. |
| Mr. Yama Farooq, the director of administration for Khorasan Cargo Airlines, confirmed that the helicopter, crew and passengers were missing. In addition to the crew of two pilots and a flight engineer, he said there were passengers aboard, but he was not sure how many. | Mr. Yama Farooq, the director of administration for Khorasan Cargo Airlines, confirmed that the helicopter, crew and passengers were missing. In addition to the crew of two pilots and a flight engineer, he said there were passengers aboard, but he was not sure how many. |
| The helicopter took off from Khost Province in the late afternoon on Sunday and was bound for Kabul when the bad weather forced it to land, he said. There were violent rainstorms late in the afternoon in Kabul and surrounding areas. Logar, where the helicopter was forced to land, lies just south of Kabul. Khorasan Cargo is an Afghan company with offices in Kabul, the United Arab Emirates and Kyrgyzstan, according to its Web site. Its pilots are mostly from Central Asian countries and the company operates Russian-made helicopters, the Web site says. | |
| A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, Capt. Luca Carniel, confirmed that a civilian helicopter had made a forced landing in eastern Afghanistan and that ISAF was helping with its recovery, but said he did not have information on the number of people aboard or their nationalities. | A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, Capt. Luca Carniel, confirmed that a civilian helicopter had made a forced landing in eastern Afghanistan and that ISAF was helping with its recovery, but said he did not have information on the number of people aboard or their nationalities. |