<<Print>>

Sixteen Americans have died in a series of helicopter crashes and violent Taleban attacks across Afghanistan, in one of the bloodiest 24 hours for allied forces since the 2001 invasion. Ten people were killed and at least 26 more were wounded when a fully-laden Chinook transport helicopter crashed in western Afghanistan during a pre-dawn fire fight with insurgents. In the south of the country, four soldiers were killed and two others were seriously wounded when two helicopters collided in mid-air, officials said. In the east, meanwhile, one soldier was killed in an explosion and a second died of wounds sustained in a separate insurgent attack yesterday. Colonel Wayne Shanks, a US military spokesman, said �such a significant loss� compounded the military�s grief. �These separate tragedies underscore the risks our forces and our partners face every day,� he said. �Each and every death is a tremendous loss for the family and friends of each service member and civilian.� The twin-rotor CH-47 cargo helicopter came down under heavy fire shortly after midnight, as it tried to extract a US Special Forces team from a daring night raid against one of the region�s most wanted drug smugglers. The Special Operations Force was backed by a squad of Afghan commandos and civilian counter-narcotics agents. �Seven U.S. service members and three US civilians were killed,� a military spokesman said yesterday. At least 11 US troops were also injured in the crash, in Badghis province, as well as 14 Afghan soldiers and one American civilian. A military spokesman said the civilians worked for �other US government agencies,� understood to mean the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The elite US troops had led an airborne assault against a compound in Darpum district, believed to �harbour insurgents� linked to Afghanistan�s multi-billion dollar opium trade, officials said. �During the operation, insurgent forces engaged the joint force and more than a dozen enemy fighters were killed in the ensuing fire fight,� a military spokesman said. But moments after the raiders boarded a Chinook to leave the battlefield, their aircraft crashed into the main bazaar. A spokesman for the Taleban claimed responsibility. Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said: �There was fighting in the bazaar between foreign troops and the Taleban. During the fighting the Taleban shot down a foreign helicopter.� But Nato�s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the reasons for the crash were still being investigated. �The cause is not believed to be from enemy action.� Taliban fighters continued to attack the American-led force after the helicopter was downed, hampering rescue efforts to evacuate them. Eyewitness said they saw another four helicopters strafing Taleban positions in the town. �There were four helicopters in the sky firing bombs and missiles,� said Ahmad Farwad, 35. �I was woken by the sound of fighting and I walked my family to another village. �When we went outside we saw a helicopter had been shot down. The other helicopters were attacking a Taliban compound near the bazaar and also hitting my neighbour�s house.�