Two choppers crash, NATO soldier, 35 Taliban killed in Afghanistan

Sunday, 19 Jul 2009 10:59:39 GMT

DPA, Kabul -

A civilian military aircraft working with international forces and a US helicopter crashed in Afghanistan on Sunday, while a NATO soldier and 35 Taliban fighters were killed in volatile southern region, officials said. The civilian helicopter, which was working for the international forces in southern Afghanistan crashed during the take-off from Kandahar province's airfield on Sunday, NATO said in a statement.

"The number of injuries has yet to be confirmed. Emergency personnel are on the scene," the statement said, adding, "There was no indication of the cause of the accident but insurgent action has been ruled out."

Meanwhile, A US military helicopter made an "emergency landing" near a military base in eastern Konar province on Sunday morning, the US military said in a statement.

"Personnel on the aircraft were initially treated on site and evacuated to the nearest medical facility for further treatment," the statement said, but did not say that how many people aboard the chopper were hurt.

The incident came a day after a US fighter jet F-15E crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing both its crew members.

Six civilian Ukrainians were killed in another crash in southern Helmand province on last Tuesday when their helicopter went down near a British military base in the province. Taliban said their fighters had downed the chopper.

Southern region has been the main hub for Taliban fighters since the ouster of their regime in a US military invasion in late 2001. Thousands of US, British and Afghan soldiers are taking parts in major assaults against the Taliban fighters in the region since late last month. 

In the latest incident in the region, a NATO-led soldier was killed in a roadside bomb blast in the region on Saturday, the military alliance said in a statement on Sunday. It did not reveal the nationality of the soldier.

Afghan defence ministry also said Sunday that its troops backed by international forces killed 35 Taliban fighters in an operation in Shah Walikot district of Kandahar province on Saturday.

The combined forces seized a large cache of weapons and explosive materials during the operation, it said.

Helicopter crash in Afghanistan kills 16

July 19, 2009

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) –

A civilian helicopter under contract for NATO forces in Afghanistan crashed at a military base in the south of the country on Sunday, killing 16 people and wounding five others, the alliance said.

Captain Ruben Hoornveld, a Dutch NATO spokesman at Kandahar Air Field, said there was no enemy involvement in the crash, which took place as the helicopter was taking off from the base, NATO's headquarters in the south of the country.

Russia's Interfax news agency described the helicopter as an Mi-8 transporter, operated by a Russian firm, which had 17 passengers and three crew on board at the time of the crash. It gave the death toll as 15.

The crash was the second by a former-Soviet civilian helicopter in southern Afghanistan in less than a week. Six Ukrainian crew members died aboard a Soviet-built Mi-26 transport helicopter which crashed in Helmand province on Tuesday.

Moldovan authorities said Tuesday's helicopter was shot down while ferrying supplies to a remote British base.

NATO troops in Afghanistan rely heavily on air craft from the former Soviet Union for cargo and transport flights in a country where travel by road is often difficult. The NATO force in Afghanistan has been expanding rapidly this year with the deployment of tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops.

(Writing by Peter Graff; Reporting by Ismail Sameem in KANDAHAR and Amie Ferris-Rotman in MOSCOW; Editing by Paul Tait)

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The pro-Taliban website, alemarah1.org, reported the following news in Arabic for July 16-19, 2009 (The English translation of news has not been updated since July 4, 2009).

Because of time constraints, the Editor of ccun.org cannot translate these news report, which indicate fierce fighting in Afghanistan between the Taliban fighters and the NATO forces, resulting in scores of deaths, scores of injuries, destruction of a lot of military vehicles and tanks. Today, in particular, three NATO aircraft have been downed by Taliban fighters, and NATO forces spokespersons did not deny these reports.