14/07/2009


A military helicopter carrying civilian contractors has been shot down in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, Nato officials say.

Officials told Al Jazeera that "possibly more than two" passengers were killed in the crash in Sangin district on Tuesday.

The number of casualties could not be independently confirmed.

Fazlul Haq, the district chief of Sangin, said he saw the helicopter before it crashed.

"We are aware of an incident involving a non-British military helicopter in Helmand province," Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Richardson of the Nato-led force told the Reuters news agency by phone from Helmand.

A spokeswoman for the US navy, Lieutenant-Commander Christine Sidenstricker, said there had been some casualties.

"At this time, I can tell you that a civilian helicopter crashed in Sangin. We know that there were casualties, but we are still receiving information from the scene and at this time do not have any additional details about them," she told Reuters.

The Taliban said it had shot down a Chinook helicopter in Sangin.

Anti-Taliban offensive

Helmand is the site of an offensive by around 4,000 US soldiers backed by hundreds of Nato and Afghan forces aimed at driving out the Taliban.

It is part of the main bastion for Taliban fighters and is the main drug-producing region of Afghanistan.

The US-led operation is the biggest by foreign troops since they removed the Taliban from power in 2001.

The offensive comes in advance of next month's presidential election, which is crucial both for Kabul and for a US administration that has identified Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan as its top foreign policy priority.

Since the launch of the operation in Helmand, Taliban fighters have also stepped up their attacks in other parts of Afghanistan against foreign soldiers and the Afghan government, making July the bloodiest month for foreign troops for nearly a year.

Mounting casualties

Two US soldiers from the Nato-led force were killed on Monday in Helmand, a spokesman for the US military said.

Prior to that, at least 15 foreign soldiers had been killed since the start of the assault in Helmand.

And there have been numerous casualties among US forces in other parts of Afghanistan too.

Last week, three foreign soldiers were killed when a Nato helicopter crashed in the southern Zabul province.

Several dozen Taliban fighters have also been killed in Helmand, according to the Afghan government, but there has been no major engagement with the fighters there.