Five die as British helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

Five service members were killed when a British helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan today, the Natled coalition forces and the British Ministry of Defence said.

An Afghan official said the helicopter carrying soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had crashed due to technical problems. “ISAF is still in the process of reviewing the circumstances to determine more facts,” ISAF said. It did not provide details of their nationalities.

A spokesman for Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa confirmed the crash occurred near Kandahar City.

In London, the Ministry of Defence said the helicopter was British but did not elaborate on the nationalities of the dead. “We can confirm that a UK helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan today,” the ministry said in a statement. “The incident is under investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further until families have been notified.”

Foreign forces casualties have fallen in the past few months, as US-led forces start to wind down operations ahead of a year-end deadline to leave Afghanistan.

The United States has been at odds with President Hamid Karzai who has refused US entreaties to sign a bilateral security agreement that would permit about 8,000 US troops to remain in the country after the formal US withdrawal at the end of the year.

The leading contenders to replace Mr Karzai have, however, said they will sign the agreement to allow the small contingent of US forces to stay in the country for counter-terrrorism and Afghan training purposes.

Since the start of the year, nearly twice as many foreign civilians have been killed in attacks this year compared to foreign troops. At least 24 foreign civilians, including doctors and journalists, have been shot or killed in bomb attacks.

Reuters