3 killed in Helmand helicopter crash

KABUL (PAN): Three people were killed in a local helicopter crash in the Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province on Monday, officials said.

The helicopter went down in the Shawal area of the district at 11am, district police chief Maj. Omer Jan told Pajhwok Afghan News. The aircraft caught fire while attempting an emergency landing, he said.

The Russian-made helicopter had been hired by a US company. Three people, whose identities are yet to be ascertained, were killed in the incident, Jan said.

Confirming the incident, deputy police chief Col. Kamaluddin Sherzai said security forces had cordoned off the area. The chopper crashed due to a technical fault.

A statement from the NATO-led also verified the crash. “We can confirm that a civilian helicopter, owned by AAR Airlift, crashed in Helmand province today.”

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, claimed the fighters had shot down the helicopter. All those on board were killed, he claimed, without giving a specific figure.

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