Nato Helicopter Crashes In Western Afghanistan, Injuring 2

[News_Editor]

NATO helicopter crashes in western Afghanistan, injuring 2 < br />

2012-07-19 03:58:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHAGHCHARAN, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Two coalition service members were injured on early Wednesday morning when their helicopter crashed in western Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a brief statement, without providing other details.

ISAF said two of its service members were injured when a helicopter went down in the western region of Afghanistan, which is relatively peaceful when compared to other regions in the war-torn country. "The cause of the crash is under investigation," a brief statement from the multinational alliance said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed the coalition helicopter crashed while assisting Afghan soldiers during a battle with insurgents in GhÅr Province. "NATO helicopters arrived to the scene to provide logistics and ferry away the enemy casualties when one helicopter crashed into a mountain, bursting into flames," he said, without claiming responsibility for the crash.

The nationalities of the injured service members were not immediately released.

On June 6, two American soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed in Qarah Bagh in eastern Afghanistan. A U.S. military official in Washington, D.C. said enemy fire could not be ruled out as a cause for the helicopter crash, adding that it could have been brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed insurgents downed the aircraft.

There are currently more than 130,000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, including some 90,000 U.S. troops and more than 9,500 British soldiers. U.S. President Barack Obama previously ordered a drawdown of 23,000 U.S. troops by the end of this summer, and foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

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