NATO Investigates Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2011 — An Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force heli­copter crashed in east­ern Afghanistan today, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

Res­cue forces came under ene­my fire as they approached the crash site. Coali­tion forces returned fire and secured the area. All pas­sen­gers and crew mem­bers aboard the heli­copter were safe­ly trans­port­ed to a near­by base. 

The ISAF is inves­ti­gat­ing the incident. 

In oth­er Afghanistan news today, the ISAF is assess­ing an inci­dent that occurred in the Sayyid­abad dis­trict of Afghanistan’s War­dak province. A coali­tion patrol struck an impro­vised explo­sive device while con­duct­ing a road clear­ance oper­a­tion in the dis­trict. One civil­ian was killed and sev­er­al coali­tion mem­bers were injured. 

Fol­low­ing the IED explo­sion, coali­tion forces were engaged by insur­gent small-arms fire. The patrol returned fire on the insur­gent posi­tion. Once the exchange end­ed, ISAF forces con­duct­ed an assess­ment of the area in which three civil­ian bod­ies were found and one wound­ed civil­ian was dis­cov­ered in a vehi­cle. ISAF forces pro­vid­ed first-aid to the injured civil­ian. At this stage it is unclear how the civil­ians in the small-arms fire inci­dent were killed. 

Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials have ini­ti­at­ed an inves­ti­ga­tion into the inci­dent. An ISAF assess­ment team has also been sent to the area. 

In Afghanistan oper­a­tions yesterday: 

– A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained one sus­pect­ed insur­gent and killed one insur­gent who attempt­ed to attack them dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Chak dis­trict of War­dak province. The secu­ri­ty force was search­ing for a Tal­iban appoint­ed gov­ern­ing offi­cial oper­at­ing in the dis­trict. He is respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing and plan­ning attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces and dis­trib­ut­ing logis­ti­cal sup­plies to his subordinates. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion patrol dis­cov­ered a cache of pop­py seeds in a bazaar in the Delaram dis­trict of Nim­roz province. The cache con­sist­ed of 11,000 pounds of pop­py seed, placed in indi­vid­ual 100-pound bags. 

– In the San­gin dis­trict of Hel­mand province, an Afghan-led secu­ri­ty force detained one sus­pect and con­fis­cat­ed sev­er­al pounds of opi­um. The tar­get of the oper­a­tion was a Tal­iban leader who coor­di­nates road­side bomb attacks and pro­vides mil­i­tary guid­ance for attack planning. 

– A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force seized a weapons cache in the Shahid dis­trict of Uruz­gan province. The cache con­tained nine grenades, four rifle mag­a­zines, 200 small-arms rounds and impro­vised explo­sive device mak­ing mate­ri­als. All the weapons and muni­tions were destroyed. 

– A coali­tion patrol seized a weapons cache in the Nad’ Ali dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The cache con­tained four rock­et-pro­pelled grenade war­heads, four boost­ers and 50 7.62mm rounds. All the weapons were destroyed. 

– In Zur­mat the dis­trict of Pak­ti­ka province, an Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work facil­i­ta­tor and detained two of his asso­ciates. The facil­i­ta­tor pro­vides intel­li­gence, par­tic­i­pates in attacks, con­ducts kid­nap­pings and assists in road­side bomb attacks in the Mata Khan district. 

– In the Sabari dis­trict of Khost province, an Afghan-led force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing an oper­a­tion to cap­ture an insur­gent leader involved in coor­di­nat­ing and direct­ing road­side bomb emplace­ments tar­get­ing Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

– In a sep­a­rate oper­a­tion in the Sabari dis­trict, an Afghan-led force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Hezb‑E Isla­mi Gul­bud­din chief respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing IED attacks against the Afghan army. 

– In the Shin­dand dis­trict of Her­at province, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force seized a weapons cache con­tain­ing 27 55mm rockets. 

In July 23 Afghanistan operations: 

– An Afghan-led force killed numer­ous insur­gents and detained sev­er­al oth­ers dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in the Zharay dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. The facil­i­ta­tor is respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing trans­fers and pur­chas­es of lethal aid for insur­gents. Dur­ing the search, the secu­ri­ty force was attacked by sev­er­al armed insur­gents. The secu­ri­ty force returned fire and called in an airstrike that killed numer­ous insur­gents. Sev­er­al sus­pects were detained after the engagement. 

– In the Cha­har Bolak dis­trict of Balkh province, an Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained two sus­pects dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader. The leader is respon­si­ble for con­struct­ing, resup­ply­ing and com­mand­ing road­side bomb attacks in the province. 

– In the Arghandab dis­trict of Kan­da­har province, an Afghan-led force detained numer­ous sus­pects yes­ter­day while search­ing for an insur­gent leader. The leader directs insur­gents respon­si­ble for emplac­ing and dis­trib­ut­ing weapons and road­side bomb mate­ri­als in the Shah Wali Kot district. 

– An Afghan-led force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in the Qalat dis­trict of Zab­ul province. The leader coor­di­nates insur­gent attacks in the dis­trict against Afghan forces. 

– In the Gho­rak dis­trict of Kan­da­har province, an Afghan-led force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents. The tar­get of the oper­a­tion was a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for road­side bomb attacks. 

– A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained numer­ous sus­pects dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Sar Hawza dis­trict of Pak­ti­ka province. The oper­a­tion was con­duct­ed to clear a known Haqqani net­work safe haven where insur­gents direct­ed attacks through­out Afghanistan. 

– In the Sabari dis­trict of Khost province, an Afghan-led force detained a Haqqani net­work leader and a sus­pect­ed accom­plice. The leader was involved in road­side bomb attacks and con­duct­ed recon­nais­sance against the Afghan army. 

– In the Gelan dis­trict of Ghazni province, an Afghan-led force detained one sus­pect while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor. The facil­i­ta­tor plans attacks and pro­vides logis­ti­cal sup­port to oth­er insur­gents. He also has direct ties to senior al-Qai­da mem­bers, and arranges escape routes to safe havens in Pakistan. 

– The ISAF is inves­ti­gat­ing an inci­dent that occurred in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict in Afghanistan’s Hel­mand province where a known insur­gent was tar­get­ed by a coali­tion heli­copter. As a result of the engage­ment, five local chil­dren were regret­tably injured. The injured chil­dren were evac­u­at­ed to an ISAF med­ical facil­i­ty and treat­ed. ISAF is cur­rent­ly assess­ing this event, and more details will be released as they become avail­able. Coali­tion forces take every alle­ga­tion of civil­ian casu­al­ties seriously. 

In July 22 Afghanistan operations: 

– A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force killed an insur­gent attack­er dis­guised in a woman’s bur­ka dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Charkh dis­trict of Log­ar province. The force was search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor respon­si­ble for build­ing and dis­trib­ut­ing road­side bombs for attacks against the Afghan army. 

– In the Baghlan‑e Jadid dis­trict of Bagh­lan province, an Afghan and coali­tion force detained two sus­pects while search­ing for an Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan facil­i­ta­tor. The facil­i­ta­tor moves weapons, road­side bombs and per­son­nel through­out Takhar, Kon­duz and Bagh­lan provinces. 

– An Afghan-led force detained one sus­pect­ed insur­gent dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Gho­rak dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. The tar­get was a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for road­side bomb attacks and pro­vid­ing guid­ance for attack planning. 

– Also in Kan­da­har province, an Afghan-led force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Pan­jwa’i dis­trict. The force was search­ing for a Tal­iban leader linked to mul­ti­ple attacks against Afghan forces. 

– In the Shah Joy dis­trict of Zab­ul province, a com­bined secu­ri­ty force detained one sus­pect while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader. The leader con­ducts road­side bomb attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces along High­way 1, and pro­vides sup­port to oth­er Tal­iban lead­ers in the area. 

– An Afghan-led secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in the Charkh dis­trict of Log­ar province. The Tal­iban leader is respon­si­ble for plan­ning attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

– A com­bined Afghan/coalition patrol engaged and killed sev­er­al insur­gents dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Hel­mand province. Numer­ous sus­pects were detained for questioning. 

– A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion patrol detained a sus­pect­ed Tal­iban leader and an asso­ciate dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Jal­rayz dis­trict of War­dak province. Sev­er­al oth­er men also were detained dur­ing the oper­a­tion, and 44 pounds of home­made explo­sive were seized. The sus­pect­ed Tal­iban leader is accused of build­ing and emplac­ing IEDs and lead­ing a cell respon­si­ble for attacks on Afghan police check­points and con­duct­ing ille­gal checkpoints. 

– In the Qarah Bagh dis­trict of Ghazni province, an Afghan/coalition patrol seized a weapons cache dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion. Two insur­gents were killed when they opened fire on the patrol. One man was detained. The patrol sized three AK-47 rifles, one recoil­less rifle, one rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er, 12 grenades, eight anti-per­son­nel mines, three RPGs, a quan­ti­ty of impro­vised explo­sive device com­po­nents, five pres­sure plates, asso­ci­at­ed small arms ammu­ni­tion, 110 pounds of alu­minum fil­ings, 66 pounds of plas­tic explo­sives and 66 pounds of home­made explo­sives. The cache was safe­ly destroyed on site. 

– An Afghan/coalition patrol seized an explo­sives cache dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Ghazni dis­trict of Ghazni province. The cache con­tained eight 152 mm high-explo­sive artillery pro­jec­tiles and four impro­vised explo­sive devices. The cache was destroyed. 

– In the Muham­mad Aghah dis­trict of Log­ar province, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion patrol seized a weapons cache. The cache con­tained three AK-47 rifles, sev­en pis­tols, 9,240 rounds of machine-gun ammu­ni­tion, 1,300 pis­tol rounds and 62 pis­tol mag­a­zines. The cache was destroyed. 

– Dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Zharay dis­trict of Kan­da­har province, an Afghan-led force detained a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and sev­er­al of his asso­ciates. The secu­ri­ty force con­fis­cat­ed more than 4,000 pounds of mar­i­jua­na and 2,000 pounds of opi­um. The facil­i­ta­tor oper­at­ed between Kan­da­har City and Chaman, Pak­istan. Reports link him to the move­ment of explo­sives and bomb com­po­nents, and to the plan­ning of attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

Source:
Com­piled from Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force and ISAF Joint Com­mand News Releases