At least nine US-led troops have lost their lives in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force says.
“The cause of the crash is under investigation,” a NATO statement said on Tuesday.
“There are no reports of enemy fire in the area,” the statement added.
Four other people, including two US-led soldiers, an Afghan trooper and a US civilian, were also wounded in the incident, AFP reported.
According to the statement, the wounded people were transferred to a military clinic for medical treatment.
NATO did not reveal the nationality of the casualties.
Tuesday’s deaths bring to 529 the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan so far this year, setting a new record in the nine-year-old military intervention. US-led troop fatalities in the war-torn country in 2009 stood at 521.
The rising casualties of foreign forces in Afghanistan have sparked growing opposition to the Afghan war in member states of the NATO military alliance, including the US and Britain.
Source: Press TV