US soldiers among 8 dead in Helmand attacks

KABUL): Four US soldiers and as many Afghan police were killed in a suicide bombing and in a helicopter crash that came hours after the first incident in a district of southern Helmand province, an official said on Friday.

The US soldiers wanted to airlift wounded people from the site of a suicide bombing that killed four policemen and injured seven others in the Lagrai bazaar area of Garamser district late on Thursday, the district chief said.

The slain policemen included a commander, Nisar Ahmad, he said. The policemen were at dinner in front of their check-post when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the post, Mohammad Fahim Gorbati told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The helicopter crash was confirmed by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF.

“The crash site is secured; the cause is under investigation. Additional information will be released as appropriate” said the statement, which released no further details.

The Taliban, claiming responsibility for the suicide attack, said the fighters shot down the ISAF helicopter.

Their spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said heavy casualties were inflicted on Afghan and foreign soldiers in the two incidents.

myn/ma

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