Two Eurocopter Cougar helicopters were apparently on a training mission for the forthcoming Afghan parliamentary elections when one of the aircraft crashed, killing twelve Spanish soldiers and five crew members. The second Cougar helicopter made a forced landing which injured five personnel.
A rescue team from ISAF was sent to the scene, evacuating the dead and wounded to a military hospital in Herat.
It is presently unknown whether the crash was the result of an accident or an attack by the Taliban or Al Qaida.
Initial reports suggest that the crash may have been caused by a sandstorm. A spokesman for the Spanish prime minister told CNN that there were no indications that the chopper was brought down by enemy fire.
Taliban commander Mullah Daldullah claimed to news agency Reuters that insurgents had shot the helicopter down.
Testimonial from one of the second helicopter soldiers would confirm the attack: "We felt a blast and fell down while turning"
NATO has currently some 8,500 ISAF soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, some 800 of them are Spanish.
It had been reported that the helicopter had experienced techinical problems before takeoff.
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
The text of this article has been released into the public domain. In the event that this is not legally possible, this article may be used for any purpose, without any condition, unless such conditions are required by law. This applies worldwide. Copyright terms on images, however, may vary, so please check individual image pages prior to duplication.
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
The text of this article has been released into the public domain. In the event that this is not legally possible, this article may be used for any purpose, without any condition, unless such conditions are required by law. This applies worldwide. Copyright terms on images, however, may vary, so please check individual image pages prior to duplication.
