Tweet
US-led helicopter ‘crash-lands’ in Afghanistan’s Helmand
Sun Jan 26, 2014 10:39AM GMT
US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan have confirmed the emergency landing of one of their military helicopters in the southern province of Helmand, while the Taliban claim to have shot it down.
The US-led Western military alliance confirmed the incident on Sunday.
Local authorities said the military chopper made the forced landing in the Nowzad area of the province.
However, the Taliban militant group said the aircraft crash-landed after it came under fire by its forces.
The group further added that it was the third military helicopter belonging to the US-led forces in the country that they have downed so far in January alone.
The militants stated earlier that they had also brought down a US spy drone in the Bagram area of Parwan Province.
The development comes just over a month after six American soldiers were killed on December 17, 2013, in a helicopter crash in the southern province of Zabul, the largest death toll in a single incident to hit the US-led forces in the country in months.
While the US military officials initially rejected Taliban claims of shooting down the chopper, it was later determined that the cause of the crash was indeed ground fire where the Taliban militants had earlier reported shooting down of a military helicopter.
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but failed to bring security and stability to Afghanistan.
MFB/HSN/SS