NATO helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

[falah]

NATO helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

A helicopter from the NATO-led foreign force in Afghanistan has crashed during an anti-Taliban operation, an Afghan official said, adding there were foreign troop casualties.

The helicopter came down late on Friday (local time) in the eastern province of Wardak, south-west of the capital Kabul, said provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid.

A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was still looking into what had happened.

But an eyewitness told AFP the helicopter had crashed as it was trying to take off after landing on the roof of a Taliban commander's home during a firefight.

Mr Shahid said: "The joint forces (foreign and Afghan) conducted an operation against the Taliban in Sayd Abad district last night.

"Eight insurgents were killed. A coalition helicopter that was firing on insurgents at the time crashed.

"We're not sure if this happened due to insurgent fire or not but there were some casualties of foreign troops due to the crash."

One man who said he saw what happened, Mohammad Saber, said the helicopter had come down after an operation in his village.

"At around 10:00pm last night we heard helicopters flying over our village," he said.

"We were at home. We saw one of the helicopters land on the roof of a house of a Taliban commander, then shooting started.

"The helicopter later took off but soon after taking off it went down and crashed. There were other helicopters flying as well."

A spokesman for ISAF, the foreign military force in Afghanistan, said they were currently assessing what had happened.

"An International Security Assistance Force helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan today and recovery operations are underway," he said.

"ISAF is still in the process of assessing the circumstances to determine the facts of the incident. Reporting indicates there was enemy activity in the area."

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgent group was responsible for shooting down the helicopter and acknowledged that eight of its fighters had been killed.

The militia frequently exaggerates claims in relation to attacks in Afghanistan.

There are currently about 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, around 100,000 of them from the United States, fighting as part of the international force that has been in the country for almost 10 years.

Some troop withdrawals have already begun as part of a process which is due to see all foreign combat forces leave the country by the end of 2014.

However, the Taliban are still waging a bloody insurgency in the country. In recent weeks, a string of high-profile figures close to president Hamid Karzai have been assassinated.

In June, the United Nations said the number of security incidents between March and June was up over 50 per cent on the same period last year.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-0...nistan/2827474

[falah]

keep up the Ramadan du'a!

Dozens Killed as NATO Helicopter Shot Down in Afghanistan

Insurgents shot down a NATO Chinook helicopter during an overnight operation in eastern Afghanistan, killing 37 people on board, a military official said on Saturday. It was one of the worst single-day losses of life for coalition troops in the nearly decade-long war and comes amid rising violence across the country.

The majority of those killed were NATO troops but Afghan soldiers were also among the dead, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the crash was still being investigated.

The helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in the Tangi valley of the Wardak Province just west of Kabul. The Taliban claimed credit for the attack.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Justin Brockhoff, a NATO spokesman, confirmed the crash but could provide no further information, including what caused the crash or whether there were casualties.

There were conflicting accounts on when the helicopter went down. A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujaheed, said insurgents shot down the helicopter around 11 p.m. Friday as it was launching an operation on a house where the militants were gathering in the Tangi Joyee region of Saydabad District in the eastern part of the province. Eight militants were killed in the fight that continued after the helicopter fell, he said.

“The fresh reports from the site tells us that there are still Americans doing search operations for the bodies and pieces of the helicopter are on the ground,” Mr. Mujaheed said.

The nationality of the NATO soldiers killed was not immediately known, though Americans were known to be carrying out the majority of operations in the area.

Gen. Abdul Qayoom Baqizoy, police chief of Wardak, said the operation began around 1 a.m. Saturday as NATO and Afghan forces attacked a Taliban compound in Jaw-e-mekh Zareen village in the Tangi valley. The firefight lasted at least two hours, the general said.

“It was at the end of the operation that one of the NATO helicopters crashed,” he said. “We don’t know yet the cause of the crash and we don’t know how many NATO soldiers were on board.”

The Tangi valley runs along the border of Wardak and the neighboring province of Logar. Taliban activity has been heavy in both provinces, which border the capital of Kabul.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/wo...ghanistan.html

[falah]

Britain's 2011 Afghanistan toll hits 30 as marine killed

A marine was killed Friday in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence in London announced, the 30th British soldier involved in the campaign to die this year.

The man from 42 Commando Royal Marines was mortally wounded by a grenade attack on his checkpoint in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand. He died in a hospital at Britain's main base in the province.

The death brings to 378 the number of British troops killed since operations in Afghanistan began in October 2001. Of these, at least 333 were killed through hostile action.

"The Royal Marine was part of a foot patrol deployed to reassure local residents, and deter and disrupt insurgent activity, when they came under small arms attack," Task Force Helmand spokesman Major Rolf Kurth said.

"With the help of mortars and close air support, they broke contact with the insurgents and returned to their checkpoint.

"They then came under further attack, and the Royal Marine was mortally wounded by a grenade that landed inside the checkpoint. He died later in Camp Bastion Role 3 Hospital."

The Royal Marine's next of kin have been informed.

Britain has about 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, making it the second-largest contributor after the United States to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

They are based in central Helmand, battling Taliban insurgents and training up local security forces.

Prime Minister David Cameron wants all British troops out of a combat role in Afghanistan by 2015.

Source

[falah]

Afghan helicopter crash kills 31 US troops

NATO aircraft crashes during anti-Taliban operation in eastern Wardak province, as fighters claim hit.


The Taliban claimed responsibility for the crash of the NATO helicopter in the province of Wardak [Reuters]

A NATO helicopter has crashed in east Afghanistan during an anti-Taliban operation, killing at least 31 members of the US special forces, a statement from the Afghan president's office said.

"The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai expressed condolences over a NATO helicopter crash and the deaths of 31 members of US special forces," the statement said.

The helicopter came down late on Friday in the eastern province of Wardak, southwest of the capital Kabul, Shahidullah Shahid, the provincial spokesman, said.

"The joint forces [foreign and Afghan] conducted an operation against the Taliban in Sayd Abad district last night," he said.

"Eight insurgents were killed. A coalition helicopter that was firing on insurgents at the time crashed.

"We're not sure if this happened due to insurgent fire or not but there were some casualties of foreign troops due to the crash."

Shahid said coalition and Afghan officials were investigating the crash site on Saturday.

A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan said they were currently assessing what had happened.

"We are aware of an incident involving a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan," the spokesman said, adding that he could not give any further details at this stage.

Taliban claims responsibility

In a written statement, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the group claimed responsibility for the crash.

He said NATO had attacked a house in Sayd Abad where Taliban fighters were gathering on Friday.

The Taliban then fired on NATO and downed the helicopter, killing the crew, Mujahid said.

Aircraft crashes are relatively frequent in Afghanistan, where insecurity and difficult terrain make air travel essential for coalition forces transporting troops and equipment.

There have been at least 17 coalition and Afghan aircraft crashes in Afghanistan this year.

Friday's crash comes as the Afghan army and police ready themselves to take full charge of the country's security as NATO starts withdrawing its forces this year.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/as...233672861.html

[falah]

Senior administration official: NATO helicopter apparently shot down in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON — A senior administration official says the helicopter that crashed Saturday carrying 31 U.S. special operations forces and seven Afghan soldiers was apparently shot down by insurgents in Afghanistan.

It was the highest number of American casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long war. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the crash is still being investigated.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...GyI_story.html

[falah]

The Taliban claimed militants down the helicopter, causing the crash that is believed to be the single most deadly incident for Americans in the war in Afghanistan. It occurred in the restive eastern province of Wardak, an area where insurgent activity had been reported.

There has been a swell of recent attacks the country's southern and eastern provinces.

Seven Afghans were also killed, according to a statement from Karzai's office.

A Taliban spokesman said insurgents downed the helicopter in a rocket-propelled grenade attack.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/as...icopter.crash/

[falah]

Taliban down U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan, 38 dead

Thirty-one U.S. special forces troops and seven Afghan soldiers died when their helicopter was shot down during an overnight operation against Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, according to statement issued Saturday by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

It was the worst single-day toll for American forces in Afghanistan since U.S. troops entered that country nearly 10 years ago, and one of the largest tolls in a single incident of either the Afghan war or the fighting in Iraq.

The last time the U.S. military suffered such catastrophic loses was in January 2005, when 30 U.S. Marines and a sailor were killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq's Anbar province; throughout the country, another six U.S. troops died on the ground the same day.

U.S. officials in Afghanistan provided no details, but a senior Pentagon official in Washington confirmed that the helicopter had been shot down, though he said he could not provide details. A villager in the area where the helicopter went down told McClatchy he heard rocket fire. He said he later saw the helicopter burning an orchard about a half-mile from his home.

"Smoke was rising from the helicopter till morning," Mansour Majab said...

...The Taliban claimed credit for the attack in a statement. "Last night at 11 p.m. in the Joye Zarin area of Tangi Saybabad district, the invader forces conducted a night raid and faced hard resistance from the Islamic Emirate fighters,” according to the statement, attributed to Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, and posted on the group's website.

Shahidullah Shahid, the spokesman for the provincial governor, largely confirmed the Taliban statement, saying the crash had taken place after an operation by the International Security Assistance Force, as the U.S.-led coalition is known, killed eight insurgents.

“After the operation the ISAF helicopter crashed and there are casualties," Shahid said. "The area has been surrounded by U.S.-led NATO forces."

Maidan Wardak is a volatile province located about 25 miles west of Kabul. It shares a border with Logar, another insecure province.

Majab told McClatchy that night raids by U.S.-led forces happen frequently.

"Every night the helicopters are flying over our house," he said by phone. He said on Thursday U.S. troops conducting a night raid in another village killed three Taliban fighters."

He said Taliban forces fired a rocket at the downed helicopter.

"I was in the house and taking some food for the guests who were in our house. I heard the sound of a rocket firing< Majab said. "Later we saw a helicopter downed in an apple and apricot orchard about a kilometer away. There is a river between our house and the place where the helicopter was downed. Smoke was rising from the helicopter till morning."

Majab said that "most people are awake during night because of night raids" and that the region is dominated by the Taliban. "From each house at least one person is with the Taliban," he said.

Night raids have become a favored tactic of ISAF troops in recent years and have been credited with weakening Taliban forces, though the downing of he helicopter renewed questions about U.S. claims that the security in Afghanistan is gradually improving, in part, because the Taliban is weaker.

Often the U.S. military has noted that the Taliban is on the run from areas in the south and east they once firmly controlled because of an aggressive U.S. campaign in Taliban strongholds. But a string of successful assassinations and high-profile attacks has some asking whether losing such ground has in fact made the Taliban weaker.

Since April, the Taliban has claimed to assassinate Kandahar’s police chief and mayor and Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president’s brother and power governor of Kandahar. In addition, the Taliban claimed last month to killed a top presidential aide.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/0...copter-in.html

[falah]

Deadliest aviation incidents of Afghan war

The most fatal air accidents involving planes and helicopters since 2001 in US-led NATO campaign against the Taliban.


The fatal crash late on Friday in the Wardak province was the deadliest yet in Afghanistan

2011

August 6: A US Chinook helicopter crashes in an anti-Taliban operation, killing at least 31 members of the US special forces and seven Afghan troops. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the crash.

2010

June 9: A Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk CSAR helicopter is shot down in Helmand province, killing five US airmen.

September 21: A US Army UH-60 Blackhawk crashes in Zabul province, killing nine soldiers on board.

2009

January 15: An Afghan army Mi-17 crashes in the Adraskan District of Herat province, killing all 13 on board, including General Fazaludin Sayar, the regional commander in charge of the western part of Afghanistan. The government declares the crash is due to inclement weather, but the Taliban claim to have shot the helicopter down.

October 26: US MH-47G Chinook crashes in Badghis province, reportedly due to low visibility caused by "thick dust stirred up" during takeoff at night, killing seven US servicemen and three US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents. Fourteen Afghan, 11 US servicemen and one US DEA agent are injured in the crash.

2007

February 18: US MH-47 Chinook from 2-160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment carrying 22 US servicemen crashes in Zabul province, killing eight and injuring 14.

May 30: US CH-47 Chinook is shot down in the upper Sangin valley, killing five US soldiers, one British and one Canadian. Until July 25, 2010, officially the incident is attributed to small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

2006

May 5: US CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashes in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, killing all 10 US soldiers on board.

September 2: A British Nimrod MR2 aircraft crashes near Kandahar, killing 14 crew members.

2005

April 6: US CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashes in a sandstorm near Ghazni, killing all 15 US soldiers and three civilian contractors.

June 28: US CH-47 Chinook helicopter is shot down in Kunar province by Taliban commander Qari Ismail, killing all 16 US special forces servicemen on board. The US military says it was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade while on a mission to rescue four SEAL members pinned down by Taliban gunmen.

August 16: Seventeen Spanish soldiers are killed when a Cougar AS532 helicopter crashes near Herat. A second Spanish helicopter makes an emergency landing, injuring five soldiers. The crash is reported as an accident, although witnesses say the aircraft took fire from a nearby village.

September 25: Five US soldiers are killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashes in Zabul province while returning from an operation. Though initially reported as an accident, the crash is later confirmed to have been caused by hostile fire.

2003

January 8: US helicopter crashes in Kunar province, killing five Americans and two Afghans.

March 23: HH-60 Pave Hawk crashes in Afghanistan, killing six on board.

November 23: MH-53 Pave Low helicopter crashes shortly after leaving Bagram Air Base, killing four US airmen and one soldier.

2002

January 9: KC-130 Hercules tanker crashes into a Pakistani mountain, killing seven Americans on board.

March 4: During Operation Anaconda, two CH-47 Chinook helicopters are hit by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire. Two are killed in the first helicopter while dropping off a SEAL team. The second Chinook arrives later to rescue the crew and is subsequently shot down, killing four more.

December 21: CH-53G crashes in Kabul, killing seven German soldiers.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/as...131244458.html

[Abu Layla]

Lillaahil hamd, wa huwa `ala kulli shay'in qadeer. Allaahumma nsuril Islaam fee haathihi shahril mubaarakah

[al-Fajr]

The helicopter had on board 25 SEALs, including members from the team that killed Usama.

Allah's retribution is swift.

[falah]

22 Navy SEALS from unit that killed bin Laden among those dead in helicopter crash

Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite Navy SEALs unit that killed Osama bin Laden, as well as seven Afghan commandos, U.S. officials said Saturday. It was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war.

The downing was a stinging blow to the lauded, tight-knit SEAL Team 6 months after its crowning achievement. It was also a heavy setback for the U.S.-led coalition as it begins to draw down thousands of combat troops fighting what has become an increasingly costly and unpopular war...

...The strike is also likely to boost the morale of the Taliban in a key province that controls a strategic approach to the capital Kabul. The Taliban claimed they downed the helicopter with a rocket while it was taking part in a raid on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak late Friday. Wreckage of the craft was strewn across the crash site, a Taliban spokesman said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2121884/

[SammerTX]

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- In the single deadliest loss for U.S. troops since the Afghan war began in late 2001, 30 service members died early Saturday when a helicopter carrying them went down while they were reinforcing other troops, officials said.

Insurgents are believed to have shot down the CH-47 Chinook, a U.S. military official said. The Taliban claimed militants downed the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Among the 25 U.S. special operations forces killed in Wardak province were 22 Navy SEALS, considered to be the "best of the best." Seven Afghan troops also died.

The majority of the Navy SEALs who died belonged to the same covert unit that conducted the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May, though they were not the same men, the military official said.

The troops died during a "quick reaction" mission to assist military personnel pinned down by insurgents in a fierce firefight, a U.S. military official told CNN.

[from water]

Ahhh, Ramadan, how I love thee.

[thRilNs]

There was another personnel carrying chopper that was shot down, but this one was carrying the unit which killed Osama Bin Laden. How do you like them apples. http://aussiemuslims.com/forums/show...625#post534625

[SammerTX]

Very interesting.

"I am on record three months ago after they killed OBL saying this would happen"

Seal Team 6 Crash Was An Inside Job




A National Guard Chinook with a Full Load of Seals and Special Ops?

Gordon Duff’s piece yesterday afternoon has quickly run up 30,000 reads plus what ever the blogger traffic was. We put it out quickly because losing this many SEALS in a one mission crash seemed impossible with the ops procedures for moving these highly trained teamsaround.

The comment section was very active and generally most all agreed that an a RPG shot bringing down a SEAL Chinook with a huge team aboard staggered the imagination.

[SammerTX]

[falah]

Allahu alam

Reminds me of the plane crashes that mysteriosly occurred after the Saudi Government massacred the people in mecca.

Surving hajjis were killed off first in this crash

Soldiers involved in the mecca massacre were later killed in this crash

[falah]

Bin Laden hit squad killed in Afghanistan

Former defence intelligence official, Anthony Tucker-Jones, reports on how US Special Forces losses in Afghanistan are a propaganda coup for al-Qaeda

To al-Qaeda there will be a sense of poetic justice that 20 of the 38 men killed in the helicopter that came down in Afghanistan on 5 August were part of the same US Navy SEALs (sea-air-land) Special Forces unit that killed Osama bin Laden.

Only last week a US Special Forces source claimed that the 23 SEALs from Team Six's Red Squadron were instructed from the very start that the bin Laden operation was 'shoot to kill'.

In the event bin Laden received a double tap (a shot to the chest, then a shot to the head) in Abbotttabad, Pakistan on 1 May. The Pentagon stated the plan had been to capture him if possible.

Reportedly using the ubiquitous Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) the Taliban claim to have shot down a Chinook helicopter near Jaw-e-Mekh Zareen, in the Tangi valley, Wardak province killing 31 US troops and seven Afghan soldiers.

According to the Pentagon the SEAL squadron lost in Afghanistan although part of Team Six was not the same one that conducted the Abbottabad mission. If it were this would hand al-Qaeda a major propaganda coup and avenge their leader.

America and NATO's reliance on helicopters in Afghanistan means such a incident was only a matter of time. Whilst this is the single worst helicopter loss involving NATO forces it is certainly not the first. Nor is it the first time the SEALs have suffered such heavy casualties on covert Ops in Afghanistan.

Operation Red wing, conducted in the mountains near Asabad in Kunar province went horribly wrong on 28 June 2005. An extraction team of eight SEALs, from Team Ten and eight Green Berets were lost when their MH-47D Chinook was ambushed. From the four man SEAL team they had been sent to rescue only one was subsequently saved.

One of the very first helicopter losses was a US Army CH-47 Chinook, which crash-landed in eastern Afghanistan on 9 January 2001. During Operation Anaconda on 2 March 2002 two Apache attack helicopters were damaged by RPG rounds, two others were seriously damaged by small arms and a UH-60 was forced to land.

During the same operation two MH-47 carrying SEALs were ambushed. Tragically an RPG round cut the door gunner's tether, two more rounds struck the aircraft and a Petty Officer fell out as he tried to secure the gunner. The damaged MH-47 eventually had to be abandoned. Two additional MH-47s with a rescue force returned to the same landing zone and suffered another helicopter disabled.

As the Taliban's only successes against helicopters are with RPGs, which have an effective range of about 500 yards, it was not long before they were actively seeking Surface-to-Air missiles (SAMs). Washington moved to head off this threat by offering a bounty of $40,000 per system.

Before the coalition attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan both countries were equipped with the Soviet era Strela-2/SA-7 SAM and subsequently quantities fell into insurgents hands, but they always missed their targets. Following the Coalition intervention in Afghanistan some 5,600 shoulder fired missiles were captured, many though ended up on the black market.

The British Special Boat Service operating in Afghanistan's Nimroz province, seized trucks coming over the Iranian border carrying SA-7 in April 2007.

Despite this the Taliban attempted to bring down an American C-130 Hercules over Nimroz, using an SA-7 of Soviet or Chinese origin on 22 July 2007 brought in from Iran. Intelligence indicated that the Iranians were acting as a conduit for Chinese missiles after it was alleged the Chinese HN-5 had been discovered in Taliban hands.

This was the first time the Taliban sought to take down a coalition aircraft using a SAM. On this occasion the Hercules' pilots took evasive action and dropped flares to successfully escape destruction.

This latest attack allegedly using RPGs seems to indicate just how successful Washington has been in keeping SAMs out of Afghanistan.

Nonetheless for US SOCOM – Special Operations Command – the loss of so many experienced SEALs is a disaster. It represents their heaviest losses since the Second World War.

It will be a particular blow for the personnel of Naval Special Warfare Command's Special Warfare Group Two based at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base.

Both the Taliban and al-Qaeda will chalk this up as a major victory.

http://www.defencemanagement.com/fea...y.asp?id=17191