NATO helicopter goes down in southern Afghanistan; no word on casualties

NATO helicopter goes down in southern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO forces say a Canadian helicopter has gone down in southern Afghanistan but no one was injured.

The craft went down Thursday afternoon in Kandahar province’s Panjwai District, a volatile area under the command of Canadian forces. NATO forces spokesman Maj. Michael Johnson says the craft made a “hard landing” and then caught fire.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed the insurgent group shot the craft down with a rocket. Johnson said the cause of the incident is being investigated and hostile fire has not been ruled out.

A shopkeeper said he heard a loud bang, then saw smoke and the helicopter falling into a field.

Johnson said the five crew members and five passengers have been recovered safely.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide car bomber struck a convoy of NATO troops and Afghan police Thursday in northern Afghanistan, killing seven police officers and wounding at least 11 people.

The attack occurred in the early morning in Kunduz province’s Imam Sahib district, according to an Interior Ministry statement. In addition to the deaths, six police and five civilians were wounded, the ministry said.

No NATO troops were killed in the bombing, said Maj. Michael Johnson, a NATO forces spokesman. He said some NATO forces were wounded, but declined to say how many or how seriously.

The vehicles were stopped in preparation of an operation in the area and the killed police officers had been standing outside of their trucks as they mobilized, said Abdul Rahman Aqtash, deputy police chief of Kunduz province

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to The Associated Press. The insurgent group regularly launches attacks against military forces or government workers as part of their campaign against the government.

Kunduz and other northern provinces have become increasingly violent in recent months as insurgent activity has spread into areas beyond the militants’ longtime bases in the south and east of the country. This expansion of militant attacks has happened even as the U.S. and its allies are rushing thousands of reinforcements to try to turn back the Taliban. The focus of U.S. and NATO operations has been in the ethnic Pashtun south.

On Tuesday, New Zealand suffered its first combat death of the Afghan war during a Taliban ambush in one of Afghanistan’s most peaceful areas — the central province of Bamiyan.