Seven dead in NATO helicopter crash in Afghanistan Wed May 30, 2007 6:01 PM EDT
By Jim Loney KABUL (Reuters) - A NATO Chinook helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing all seven soldiers onboard, NATO said. Troops responding to the scene were ambushed by enemy fighters and called for an air strike to eliminate the threat, NATO said. The big, twin-rotor military helicopter went down in the southern province of Helmand, where Western forces have clashed repeatedly with Taliban guerrillas 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," NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. "One Afghan civilian was injured by small arms fire after the crash." The helicopter went down in the Kajaki region, 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 further 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. © Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
