AFGHANISTAN: Helicopter Crash Kills 6 in Afghanistan
Posted by warvictims on July 14, 2009
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
KABUL — A helicopter crash in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan killed at least six civilians on Tuesday and two United States Marines were reported killed in the same region, as NATO troops and Afghan Army forces pressed an offensive against Taliban insurgents.
The United States military said the two marines had died in a “hostile incident” on Monday, although no further details were released. A force of about 4,000 Marines has been fighting a stepped-up campaign against Taliban militants in Helmand Province for the past two weeks.
Details about the helicopter crash remained sketchy for hours after the incident. A NATO spokesperson placed the death toll at least six and news reports said that those killed were foreign civilian contractors for the NATO force. It was unclear whether the helicopter had been shot down or suffered mechanical failure.
Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Helmand governor, said he believed the helicopter was a transport aircraft and that the contractors aboard were foreign, but not from the United States or Britain.
Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker, an American military spokeswoman in Kabul, said: “We know there are casualties but we’re still getting reports from the incident and are unable to confirm other details.”
Fazlul Haq, a Sangin district official, said the helicopter crashed and caught fire at around daybreak, northeast of the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/world/asia/15afghan.html?ref=world
