15 July 2009 / REUTERS, KANDAHAR
A helicopter crashed killing at least six foreigners on Tuesday in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, scene of a massive operation by US Marines, a NATO official said.
The Taliban, leading the insurgency against foreign troops and the Afghan government, said it had shot down a Chinook helicopter. The six dead included civilian contractors, a spokesman for the NATO-led force in Kabul said. He did not give any more details. An Afghan official who witnessed the crash told Reuters the helicopter was being used by foreign forces. Spokesmen for the British and US forces said it was a civilian aircraft. A spokeswoman for the US Navy, Lt. Com. Christine Sidenstricker, said there had been some casualties in the crash in the Sangin district of Helmand. "We know that there were casualties, but we are still receiving information from the scene and at this time do not have any additional details about them," she told Reuters. Around 4,000 US Marines and hundreds of NATO and Afghan forces are taking part in an offensive in various parts of Helmand against the Taliban, the biggest by foreign troops since they ousted the militant group in 2001. The operation comes ahead of next month's presidential election, which is crucial both for Kabul and for a US administration that has identified Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan as its top foreign policy priority. Since the launch of the operation in Helmand, the Taliban have stepped up their attacks in other parts of Afghanistan against foreign troops and the Afghan government.
