NATO says 4 international service members die in helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan

NATO says 4 troops die in Afghan copter crash

KABUL, Afghanistan — A military helicopter crashed during an early morning operation in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing three Australian commandoes and an American service member, officials said.

The crash was being investigated but there were no indications of enemy involvement, NATO said in a statement.

The Australian government said three of the dead were Australians, and U.S. Lt. Col. Joseph T. Breasseale said the fourth service member killed was American.

Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said seven other Australian soldiers were wounded, two of them badly.

“This is a tragic day for Australia, and for the Australian defense force,” Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in a statement to Parliament. “We know our mission in Afghanistan is hard, but this mission is critical for our common security.”

The crash comes in a particularly deadly month for NATO forces. Including the most recent deaths, at least 57 international troops, including 35 Americans, have died so far in June. That could make June among the deadliest for international forces in the nearly nine-year war. The deadliest month so far for the military alliance was July 2009 when 75 troops, including 44 Americans, were killed.

The helicopter crashed before dawn in southern Kandahar province, and the operation it had been part of was still ongoing, Houston said.

Other coalition helicopters that were part of the same push landed near the downed aircraft and airlifted out the wounded, he said. More details on the operation were not given.

NATO has launched a major operation to secure the biggest southern city, Kandahar, capital of the province where the Taliban were first organized in the 1990s.

There were 15 people aboard the helicopter, 10 of them Australians, said Australian Defense Minister John Faulkner.

Australia has some 1,500 troops in Afghanistan alongside NATO forces. Monday’s deaths take Australia’s military death toll in Afghanistan to 16.

Australia’s 1,550 troops in Afghanistan are based mainly in Uruzgan province, and are mostly involved in training Afghan security forces.

Sullivan reported from Sydney.