10 US soldiers die in Afghan copter crash

Sunday, May 07, 2006 [link to www.dailytimes.com.pk]

10 US soldiers die in Afghan copter crash

KABUL: A US-led coalition military transport helicopter crashed while conducting combat operations in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan, killing all 10 American soldiers on board, a US military spokeswoman said on Saturday.

The CH-47 Chinook crashed late Friday while on a mission in support of Operation Mountain Lion, an offensive to root out Taliban and Al Qaeda militants near the border with Pakistan. The crash was not the result of enemy fire, said Lt Tamara D Lawrence, a coalition spokeswoman. “The remains of all the 10 soldiers have been found and there are no survivors,” she said. “There is no indication that the helicopter came down due to some enemy action.”

The soldiers were part of a more than 20,000-strong coalition force, mostly operating in the volatile south and east of Afghanistan. About 18,000 of those forces are American. The helicopter was conducting “operations on a mountaintop landing zone” when it crashed near Asadabad in Kunar province, about 240 kilometres east of Kabul, the capital, the military said in a statement. Rescue and recovery operations began at daybreak Saturday, Lawrence said. An investigation into the crash is under way.

Asadabad is surrounded by rugged mountains, and a large US military base there houses hundreds of troops. The police chief of Kunar province, Gen Abdul Ghafar, said the helicopter crashed about 20 kilometres northwest of the US base in Asadabad. He said the crash was a day’s walk from any passable road. ap