Eight American troops die in Sunday helicopter crash

KABUL, Afghanistan – A U.S. military helicopter that crashed before dawn Sunday in southern Afghanistan killed eight American service members and injured the remaining 14 aboard, military officials said.

The pilot had reported an unexplained loss of power shortly before the twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter plunged to the ground in Zabul province, which lies between the Afghan capital, Kabul, and the southern city of Kandahar.

It was the first U.S. military helicopter crash in Afghanistan involving multiple fatalities since May, when 10 troops were killed in eastern Kunar province as the pilot tried to set down on a mountaintop in the dark. In July, the crash of an Apache helicopter as it was taking off from the NATO base outside Kandahar killed one crew member.

The Sunday crash was also the deadliest single incident this year for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military said there was no indication that the crash was caused by enemy fire, although the Taliban are known to be active in the area. The insurgents are expected to intensify their fight against allied troops as mountain snows melt and the weather improves.

Rough terrain and often-turbulent weather pose substantial dangers to military aviation in Afghanistan. A mixture of rain and snow lashed parts of Zabul province overnight, and the provincial governor, Dilber Jan Arman, said through a spokesman that poor conditions might have been a factor.

“It was rainy and snowy,” said the spokesman, Gulab Shah Ali Khail, adding: “We don’t believe the crash was caused by enemy fire.”

The governor said another American helicopter was operating in the area at the time. U.S. military officials did not confirm the presence of a second craft.

Allied troops and Afghan soldiers cordoned off the scene of the crash, which scattered smoking wreckage within sight of the main Kabul-Kandahar highway. Passing vehicles were stopped and searched while troops combed the area.

The U.S. military declined to release any details about where the helicopter had taken off from, where it was bound or what its mission was. There is a NATO base in Zabul province, at the site of an ancient fortress deep in the high desert, and troops and supplies are often ferried in from Kandahar airfield, the main allied base in the south.

The allied military effort in Afghanistan is highly dependent on helicopter transport of troops and supplies. There are very few serviceable roads in mountainous areas, distances are great and military ground transport is vulnerable to roadside bombings and suicide attacks.