Afghan chopper crashes killing 17 Spanish troops

MADRID – Seventeen Spanish troops were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan yesterday, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.

The helicopter went down south of Spain’s base at Herat, the spokesman said. The cause was unknown, he said.Spain said in June it was sending an extra 500 troops to Afghanistan to boost security ahead of September elections there, adding to 500 it already had there.The crash would be the second air disaster for Spanish troops in Afghanistan: in 2003, a plane bringing 62 Spanish peacekeepers back from Afghanistan crashed in Turkey, killing all those on board.In Kabul, an official of the NATO-led force said a helicopter crash in western Afghanistan had killed a number of NATO-led peacekeepers.Rescue teams had been sent to the crash site near the airport in Herat, said Andrea Tolan, a press official for the International Security Assistance Force, Afghanistan’s NATO-led peacekeeping force.”Yes, we have a report that says a chopper has crashed.We know that some soldiers have died,” she said.”But I do not know the number of deaths.The chopper was on an exercise when it crashed.”- Nampa-ReutersThe cause was unknown, he said.Spain said in June it was sending an extra 500 troops to Afghanistan to boost security ahead of September elections there, adding to 500 it already had there.The crash would be the second air disaster for Spanish troops in Afghanistan: in 2003, a plane bringing 62 Spanish peacekeepers back from Afghanistan crashed in Turkey, killing all those on board.In Kabul, an official of the NATO-led force said a helicopter crash in western Afghanistan had killed a number of NATO-led peacekeepers.Rescue teams had been sent to the crash site near the airport in Herat, said Andrea Tolan, a press official for the International Security Assistance Force, Afghanistan’s NATO-led peacekeeping force.”Yes, we have a report that says a chopper has crashed.We know that some soldiers have died,” she said.”But I do not know the number of deaths.The chopper was on an exercise when it crashed.”- Nampa-Reuters