jihadfighter
19-02-2007, 02:53
US troops die in Afghan air crash
Eight US soldiers have been killed and 14 wounded after a multinational force helicopter reported engine failure and crashed in southeastern Afghanistan, the US-led force said in a statement.
The crash occured early on Sunday and initially the US military said it expected "everyone to survive".
Lieutenant-Colonel David Accetta, a multinational force spokesman, said: "Eight service members were killed and 14 others were wounded. They were all US service members."
Tom Collins, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, said: "It was not enemy fire related. The pilot was able to radio in that he was having engine problems. We're confident it was not due to enemy action."
Bad weather
There were reports that the helicopter was a Chinook, which would have the capacity to carry around 30 people, but the multinational force would not say how many people were on board.
The helicopter went down near a road in the Shahjoi district of the province of Zabul, according to residents there.
Dilber Jan Arman, Zabul's provincial governor, said the helicopter fell in the Hassan Kariez area of Shahjoi.
The governor said it was possible that the "helicopter crash was due to bad weather. Locals said the road was sealed for about an hour and a half as foreign soldiers moved into the area.
James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Afghanistan, said: "The Chinook is very much the workhorse of the American military and also of Nato operating in Afghanistan."
Besides ferrying people from one place to another, he said, the Chinook is "also used to carry vital supplies and equipment - these are transported to forward areas by air rather than by road because the situation on the ground isn't safe and the are worried about ambushes, roadside attacks and suicide bombs".
bron:http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/45E84DA6-9390-4F6A-8F6F-EB8DC205EA71.htm
Eight US soldiers have been killed and 14 wounded after a multinational force helicopter reported engine failure and crashed in southeastern Afghanistan, the US-led force said in a statement.
The crash occured early on Sunday and initially the US military said it expected "everyone to survive".
Lieutenant-Colonel David Accetta, a multinational force spokesman, said: "Eight service members were killed and 14 others were wounded. They were all US service members."
Tom Collins, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, said: "It was not enemy fire related. The pilot was able to radio in that he was having engine problems. We're confident it was not due to enemy action."
Bad weather
There were reports that the helicopter was a Chinook, which would have the capacity to carry around 30 people, but the multinational force would not say how many people were on board.
The helicopter went down near a road in the Shahjoi district of the province of Zabul, according to residents there.
Dilber Jan Arman, Zabul's provincial governor, said the helicopter fell in the Hassan Kariez area of Shahjoi.
The governor said it was possible that the "helicopter crash was due to bad weather. Locals said the road was sealed for about an hour and a half as foreign soldiers moved into the area.
James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Afghanistan, said: "The Chinook is very much the workhorse of the American military and also of Nato operating in Afghanistan."
Besides ferrying people from one place to another, he said, the Chinook is "also used to carry vital supplies and equipment - these are transported to forward areas by air rather than by road because the situation on the ground isn't safe and the are worried about ambushes, roadside attacks and suicide bombs".
bron:http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/45E84DA6-9390-4F6A-8F6F-EB8DC205EA71.htm