October 26th, 2009 2:31 PM
Two copters collide in midair. In a separate incident, a chopper goes down following a firefight with insurgents. Three U.S. civilians and 11 troops are killed.
By Laura King
/
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan - Eleven
U.S. troops and three American law-enforcement officials were killed in
two separate helicopter crashes today, one of the war's heaviest
one-day losses for U.S. forces, military officials said.
The crashes involved a total of three choppers, two of which collided
in midair in the south of the country, and a third that went down in
the wake of a firefight in Afghanistan's west, according to the NATO
force and American officials.
Hostile fire was ruled out in the midair collision, which killed a
total of four American troops and injured two others, but the cause of
the other crash was not immediately clear.
The Taliban claimed to have shot down a Western helicopter today in
Afghanistan's northwest, but it was not clear whether that was the same
incident the military described.
The surge in troop deaths comes less than two weeks before a runoff
presidential election, which is expected to be a lightning rod for
insurgent violence. It also comes as the Obama administration is
weighing the reported request of its top commander, Gen. Stanley A.
McChrystal, for a substantial troop increase.
The loss of life and aircraft pointed up the extent to which Western
forces in Afghanistan are dependent on helicopters. In much of the
country, terrain is extremely rough, distances long and roads all but
impassable. Roadside bombs add to the danger of ground transport.
Weather did not appear initially to be a factor in either of the
crashes, though snow, storm and winds will soon add to the dangers of
helicopter flights, particularly in mountainous areas.
In initial statements, the military did not specify where the two
crashes occurred other than by general region. There are large
concentrations of U.S. troops in the south of Afghanistan, in the
provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. NATO's second-biggest base is
located at Kandahar airfield, outside the south's largest city.
Smaller numbers of American troops serve in the west of Afghanistan.
The Taliban claim of responsibility said a chopper had been downed in
Baghdis, a remote province in the northwest, but military officials
declined to say whether the helicopter in question had gone down in
that area.
The military did say that the crash came after a joint operation by
U.S. and Afghan forces, which set off a clash with insurgents. In
addition to those killed, 14 Afghans were reported injured in the
downing of the helicopter.
The firefight broke out after American and Afghan forces searched a
compound believed to harbor drug traffickers, the military said. The
drug trade is a major source of revenue for the Taliban and other
insurgents.
About a dozen militants were reported killed in that exchange of gunfire, the military said in a statement.
The role of the three American civilians who were killed in the crash
that followed was not immediately clear, but indications were that they
might have been involved in drug interdiction. A spokeswoman for the
U.S. Embassy, Caitlin Hayden, identified them as "members of the
law-enforcement community" attached to the embassy.
Word of the helicopter crashes came as military officials disclosed the
deaths of two American soldiers in separate attacks in Afghanistan's
east.
That part of the country, bordering Pakistan's tribal areas, is also
the scene of frequent fighting between U.S. troops and insurgents based
in the tribal areas of Pakistan who cross into Afghanistan to carry out
attacks.
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