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Soldier killed in chopper 'hard landing' in Afghanistan
Kabul (AFP) Jan 17, 2009 An international soldier was killed Saturday when a US Chinook helicopter was forced into a hard landing amid gunfire in eastern Afghanistan, the US military said. The force did not give the nationality of the troop killed in the crash in the eastern province of Kunar. Most international soldiers in the rugged east, along the border with Pakistan, are US nationals serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) or a separate US-led coalition. "One service member was killed today when a coalition CH-47 helicopter, supporting an ISAF mission, conducted a hard landing in eastern Afghanistan," a US military statement said. "Though the cause of the landing is currently undetermined, small-arms fire was present at the time of the incident," it said. There were seven people on board the transport chopper, the statement said, without commenting on the identities or conditions of the surviving six. Extremist Islamic insurgents fighting the Afghan government and its allies are active in mountainous Kunar, where there have been several incidents in which choppers have taken fire, although few have caused serious casualties. It was the third incident involving a military helicopter in as many days. On Friday a US Black Hawk helicopter was forced to crash land outside the capital, Kabul, but all seven US crew and passengers survived. The military said it was investigating what caused the chopper to come down but ruled out "enemy activity." On Thursday an Afghan army helicopter, a Russian-made Mi-17, crashed in bad weather in the west of the country, killing a senior general and 12 other members of the Afghan National Army. There are 60-70,000 mainly Western troops in Afghanistan to help the government fight an insurgency led by the Taliban religious group, which was in government between 1996 and 2001. A US soldier was killed in Kabul Saturday when a suicide car bomb blew up outside the German embassy. Four Afghan civilians were also killed in the attack, which was claimed by the Taliban. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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