KABUL: A helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan that left five members of the NATO-led international force fighting in the war-torn country dead, the coalition and provincial authorities said Tuesday.
The helicopter had come down on Monday evening during a heavy rain storm in Daman district, said police in the southern province of Kandahar.
“There was bad weather in the area and the helicopter crashed at about 10:00 pm,” Kandahar provincial police chief General Abdul Razeq said. “No insurgents were there at the time.”
In a brief statement, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said “The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the incident.”
The statement did not give any details about the nationality of the casualties, although US, British and Australian forces make up the bulk of the NATO-led contingent in Afghanistan’s south.
Helicopter crashes are fairly frequent in Afghanistan, where the 100,000-strong international mission relies heavily on air transport.
DND
