More terrorist tragedy

Five U.S. Soldiers Killed When Taliban Apparently Downs NATO Helicopter in Afghanistan

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Five U.S. soldiers were among seven people killed when a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down Wednesday evening in Afghanistan's most volatile province, a U.S. military official said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Initial reports suggested the helicopter was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade, the U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity because the crash was being investigated.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said seven ISAF soldiers were killed after the CH-47 Chinook went down in Helmand province near Kajaki, the site of a major hydroelectric damn and scene of fierce battles in recent months.

The crew of five and two military passengers died, NATO said. It did not release nationalities, but a U.S. official said the two passengers were not American. There were no survivors.

A battalion of U.S. forces from the 82nd Airborne Division, fighting under the ISAF flag, has been engaged in heavy fighting in recent weeks in Helmand — the world's largest poppy-growing region. More Taliban militants have massed in Helmand than in any other province.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, claimed in a phone call to The Associated Press that militants had shot the helicopter down near Kajaki. He did not offer any proof of the claim, but Ahmadi did specify that the helicopter went down in Kajaki hours before NATO released that information.

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