ORAC
16th Jan 2012, 14:35
Torygraph: Taliban claims it shoots down helicopter in Helmand province (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9017731/Taliban-claims-it-shoots-down-helicopter-in-Helmand-province.html)
The Nato-led alliance fighting in Afghanistan said a civilian helicopter had crashed in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province, where largely British troops are fighting. A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the site where the helicopter came down had been secured, but declined to comment on the cause of the crash or whether there had been any casualties.
Kamaluddin Shirzad, a senior police detective for Helmand said technical problems caused the crash, but Taliban insurgents claimed that they had shot the aircraft down. "Our Mujahideen downed a white helicopter in Nad Ali district that was supplying foreign troops in Afghanistan," said Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman. "The helicopter was on fire and all onboard were killed."
A senior government security source from Helmand province, who asked not to be named, also said he understood the helicopter had been shot down.
Taliban claims of responsibility for battlefield exploits are not always reliable, and they have in the past claimed they shot down helicopters that were brought down by technical problems. Emergency helicopter landings are a regular occurrence in Afghanistan's harsh conditions, but there have been very few cases of insurgents shooting them down.
However last August the Taliban fighter did hit a Nato helicopter in a remote valley southwest of Kabul, killing all 38 people on board. It was the deadliest single incident for foreign troops in 10 years of war.
The Nato-led alliance fighting in Afghanistan said a civilian helicopter had crashed in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province, where largely British troops are fighting. A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the site where the helicopter came down had been secured, but declined to comment on the cause of the crash or whether there had been any casualties.
Kamaluddin Shirzad, a senior police detective for Helmand said technical problems caused the crash, but Taliban insurgents claimed that they had shot the aircraft down. "Our Mujahideen downed a white helicopter in Nad Ali district that was supplying foreign troops in Afghanistan," said Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman. "The helicopter was on fire and all onboard were killed."
A senior government security source from Helmand province, who asked not to be named, also said he understood the helicopter had been shot down.
Taliban claims of responsibility for battlefield exploits are not always reliable, and they have in the past claimed they shot down helicopters that were brought down by technical problems. Emergency helicopter landings are a regular occurrence in Afghanistan's harsh conditions, but there have been very few cases of insurgents shooting them down.
However last August the Taliban fighter did hit a Nato helicopter in a remote valley southwest of Kabul, killing all 38 people on board. It was the deadliest single incident for foreign troops in 10 years of war.