| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
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| Date: |
30 May 2007 07:36:14 PM |
| Object: |
Wednesday: 7 GIs Killed in Bush's illegal war |
Seven dead in NATO helicopter crash in Afghanistan
30 May 2007 22:41:03 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Jim Loney
KABUL, May 30 (Reuters) - Seven NATO soldiers died when their Chinook
helicopter crashed on Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, the site of
some of the heaviest recent fighting between Western forces and the
Taliban.
Troops responding to the scene of the crash were ambushed and called
for an air strike to eliminate the threat, NATO officials said.
NATO would not say immediately if the big, twin-rotor military
helicopter was directly involved in a battle with Taliban guerrillas
or whether it was shot down. The cause of the crash was under
investigation.
"Clearly there were enemy fighters in the area," said Major John
Thomas, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force
in Kabul. "It's not impossible for small arms fire to bring down a
helicopter."
The helicopter went down in the southern province of Helmand,
Afghanistan's main opium poppy-growing region, where Western forces
have clashed repeatedly with Taliban militants in recent months
following a winter lull in fighting.
"The entire crew of five died in the incident. There were also two
military passengers who died," ISAF said in a statement. "One Afghan
civilian was injured by small arms fire after the crash."
ISAF does not release the nationalities of soldiers killed or wounded
in Afghanistan.
Chinook crashes in Afghanistan have killed at least 55 U.S. soldiers
in the last two years.
The helicopter crashed in the Kajaki region of Helmand, where Afghan
government and foreign officials are hoping to eliminate guerrillas in
order to carry out a key hydro-electric project; the reconstruction of
the Kajaki dam.
When completed, the project is expected to vastly increase electric
power in the province and spur development.
Taliban leaders have threatened in recent weeks to step up attacks on
NATO and U.S.-led coalition troops and said they have trained hundreds
of suicide bombers to carry out attacks.
Last year's fighting between Western forces and the militants was the
bloodiest since the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.
The guerrillas are largely active in southern and eastern areas of
Afghanistan, where more than 5,000 people have been killed in the past
16 months.
The violence is rising despite the presence of nearly 50,000 foreign
troops led by NATO and the U.S. military as well as about 100,000
Afghan security forces.
At least five other Chinook helicopters have gone down in Afghanistan
in the last two years.
In February, eight U.S. troops were killed when a Chinook crashed in
Zabul province. Mechanical failure was blamed.
In May 2006, a Chinook crash killed 10 U.S. servicemen in Kunar
province.
Three Chinook crashes in 2005 were blamed for the deaths of 37 U.S.
troops. One of those helicopters was shot down.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L3015361.htm
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