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Afghanistan aircraft crash: six US soldiers killed Afghanistan aircraft crash: six US soldiers killed
(35 minutes later)
Six US soldiers have been killed in a helicopter crash in Zabul, southern Afghanistan, a US defence official said on Tuesday – the largest death toll in a single incident to hit Nato's international force in months. A helicopter crash in souther Afghanistan has killed six US soldiers, the deadliest day for American troops in the country since March.
"The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time," a Nato statement said. There was no fighting reported in the area where the aircraft came down, Nato said in a brief statement, and Afghan officials including the provincial governor and police chief said the chopper had a mechanical fault.
The deputy governor of southern Zabul province, Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, said a Nato helicopter crashed in the remote district of Shajau, though it was not immediately clear whether he was describing the same incident. The Taliban said they had shot down the aircraft, but although they have hit some helicopters, they have also repeatedly claimed technical crashes as successful attacks.
Aircraft crashes are not uncommon in mountainous Afghanistan. The late afternoon crash in Zabul province, near the border with Pakistan, was in the same district where a plane came down in April killing four US soldiers.
The worst such incident was in August 2011, when the Taliban shot down a transport helicopter, killing all 38 people on board including 25 US special operations forces. "The helicopter had technical problems and crash landed in Shahjoi district around 4pm. There were no civilian casualties," said deputy provincial police chief Ghulam Jelani Farahi.
About 84,000 Nato-led troops are serving in Afghanistan, including about 60,000 from the United States. That number is expected to be reduced to about 10,000 by 2015. Zabul was also the site of a suicide attack in early June that killed three US soldiers, a US diplomat and one other US civilian.
Prior to Tuesday's crash, only one US soldier had been killed this month in Afghanistan. The loss of the helicopter was the deadliest single incident of the year, and the worst day for American troops in nine months.
In March another helicopter crash killed five US soldiers on the same day that an Afghan policeman gunned down two US special forces trainers.
Overall military casualties have dropped dramatically as Nato countries draw down or end their combat missions, and leave Afghans to lead the fight against the Taliban.
With just a few days left to the end of the year, there have been just over 150 deaths, less than half the 402 military killed in 2012.
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