Helicopter reported shot down in Afghanistan

By Fisnik Abrashi, Associated Press Writer –

July 15, 2009

KABUL –

A civilian helicopter ferrying humanitarian aid was shot down in a southern Afghan province where fighting with the Taliban is raging, killing all six Ukrainian crew members and a child on the ground, officials said. Two U.S. Marines and an Italian soldier died in the latest clashes.

The transport helicopter crashed in flames Tuesday in the Sangin district of Helmand province, where thousands of Marines are conducting their biggest offensive since the Taliban movement was ousted from power in 2001.

NATO officials in Kabul said the cause of the crash was under investigation and gave no further details.

But the civil aviation authority of the former Soviet republic of Moldova said a rocket or a missile struck the Mi-26 helicopter, owned by the Moldovan air charter company Pecotox-Airi and carrying six Ukrainians. The helicopter was ferrying humanitarian aid when the crash took place, the Moldovans said in a statement.

The Taliban posted a statement on its Web site claiming the helicopter was brought down "by anti-aircraft fire" with 37 British soldiers on board. Moldovan and British authorities said no British troops were on the helicopter. Daud Ahmadi, the spokesman for the Helmand governor, said a 6-year-old child on the ground was also killed.

The crash occurred about a mile from a British base military base, according to Fazel Haq, a senior local official. The helicopter exploded in a ball of flames, generating smoke that could be seen over a wide area.

Last week, two Canadian soldiers and one British trooper were killed in a helicopter crash in Zabul province. Officials said that crash did not appear a result of hostile fire.

Afghanistan's harsh mountainous terrain, the lack of roads and the heavy use by the Taliban of roadside bombs have prompted international military forces to rely heavily on helicopters for transportation and supply missions. A shortage of military helicopters has forced some NATO nations to contract with private companies.

The two American Marines were killed Monday in a "hostile incident" in Helmand, according to U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias. She released no further details.

Those deaths brought to at least 107 the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year, compared with 151 in all of 2008. As of Monday, at least 660 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since the war began in 2001, according to the Defense Department. Of those, the military says 492 were killed by hostile action.

One Italian soldier was killed and three were wounded Tuesday when a roadside bomb struck their convoy about 30 miles north of the city of Farah in western Afghanistan, the Italian Defense Ministry announced. Italy has about 2,800 soldiers in Afghanistan, mostly in Kabul and the west of the country.

About 4,000 U.S. Marines launched their operation July 2 in Helmand province, hoping to prevent Taliban fighters from disrupting the presidential ballot in what has been a longtime Taliban stronghold.

British forces, meanwhile, are facing a tough fight in another area of Helmand. Britain's 9,000-strong force has lost a record 15 soldiers this month — including eight in a 24-hour period, prompting a national debate over whether the conflict is still winnable.

The British Ministry of Defense announced Tuesday it was sending another 140 soldiers to Afghanistan from a British base in Cyprus to bolster the war effort.

___

Associated Press reporters Noor Khan in Kandahar, Maamoun Youssef in Cairo and Lara Jakes in Washington contributed to this report.

====================

Pro-Taliban alemarah1.org reported the following news:

17 Foreign and Internal Soldiers Killed in Kandahar

Tuesday, 14 July 2009 12:52 Q.Y. Ahmadadi Kandahar Share

14.7.09) A martyrdom-seeking Mujahid, Lal Mohammad Kuchi detonated himself in front of the military garrison of foreign and domestic

soldiers in Debagh area of Dando district, Kandahar province. As a result of the blast, 17 foreign and Afghan hireling troops were killed. The explosion also destroyed three military vehicles. Torsos of the soldiers were scattered around the site of the explosion.

Severe Fighting Continue in Barg Matal District

Tuesday, 14 July 2009 06:12 Z. Mujahid Nooristan Share

Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan  pounded the  strongholds of the besieged army of the Kabul stooge regime and the invading foreign forces with light and heavy weapons , in Barg Matal district,  killing  30 foreign and domestic soldiers.

Eye-witnesses in Assad Abad, the provincial center of Kunar, saw helicopters  in the area, airlifting  wounded soldiers to hospitals.  Mujahideen captured the district center of Barge Matal   a few days go and it is  still in the hands of the Mujahideen  However, the enemy has resorted to bombing civilian areas and villages, which has killed 20 innocent people.

Five Invading Soldiers lose their life in a Mine Explosion

Tuesday, 14 July 2009 05:55 Z. Mujahid Ghazni Share

Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan  detonated a planted mine when an enemy tank was passing the area of Manu Kalla in Qara Bagh district of Ghazni province., killing five soldiers who were riding the tank. Similarly, Mujahideen based in the area have  hunted down two more tanks with IEDs. It  is to be said that Mujahideen have gained  high skill in the use of IEDs and planted mines by passing through  experience of decades of  battles and tip-and run attacks.  They put their skill to good use and destroy the enemy tanks all over Afghanistan on daily basis.