Afghan helicopter crashes, kills 11

Friday, August 17, 2012

Kabul: A helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan has killed seven American service members and four Afghans, NATO said.

The coalition said three Afghan soldiers and one Afghan civilian interpreter died when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter went down on Thursday.

Afghan authorities say the helicopter crashed in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province. 

The reason of crash is yet to be known as the issue is under investigation.

The Taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter. The insurgent group has made similar claims in the past, but Afghan officials in Kandahar also said the aircraft had been shot down.

The helicopter went down near the border of Uruzgan province, a known insurgent stronghold and transit route.

The deaths of seven Americans in Thursday's helicopter crash comes less than a week after six U.S. service members were killed by members of Afghan security forces or gunmen wearing their uniforms in two separate "green on blue" attacks.

Separately on Thursday, NATO said a bomb attack killed one of its service members in southern Afghanistan. The coalition gave no other details.
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