14 Americans Die in Afghan Helicopter Crashes

KABUL — Fourteen Americans were killed in Afghanistan on Monday in two separate incidents involving helicopters.

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Seven American soldiers and three civilians were killed in a helicopter crash in western Afghanistan, military officials said, and in southern Afghanistan, the midair collision of two coalition helicopters resulted in the deaths of four U.S. soldiers. A spokeswoman said gunfire from insurgents was not to blame for the collision.

The spokeswoman, Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, would not specify an exact location for the deadly crash in the west, although she said the craft was a large Chinook helicopter and the military was “98 percent sure that insurgent activity was not involved.”

A reported 26 people were injured in the crash — 14 Afghan Army soldiers, 11 U.S. troops and an American civilian.

Before the crash, a team from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force was searching a compound suspected of harboring insurgents involved in the narcotics trade, according to an ISAF statement. A firefight then broke out and “more than a dozen enemy fighters” were killed.

“As the joint force was departing the area, one helicopter went down due to unconfirmed reasons,” the statement said, adding that a recovery operation was sent to the scene to deal with coalition casualties.

Both helicopter incidents, Captain Mathias said, were being investigated.

“These separate tragedies today underscore the risks our forces and our partners face every day,” said Col. Wayne Shanks, an ISAF spokesman. “Each and every death is a tremendous loss for the family and friends of each service member and civilian. Our grief is compounded when we have such a significant loss on one day. “I can never truly express in mere words our condolences for the families for their loss and sacrifice.”

ISAF also said it conducted four operations in eastern and southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing several insurgents and detaining six suspected militants.

The coalition said in a brief statement Monday that two other American soldiers had been killed in separate incidents over the weekend in eastern Afghanistan. One died when struck by an improvised explosive device, the other from wounds suffered during an insurgent attack.

Alissa Rubin contributed reporting from Kabul, and Mark McDonald from Hong Kong.

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