At least 12 aboard helicopter killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, July 27 (Reuters) At least 12 people aboard a helicopter, including two Dutch soldiers, were killed when it crashed in bad weather in rugged mountain terrain in southeastern Afghanistan, officials said today.

The cause of yesterday's crash was not immediately known, but it took place in an area where insurgents are active and at a time of increased violence across the country ahead of NATO's groundbreaking mission in the dangerous south.

''We made every effort to quickly reach the downed aircraft with hopes of saving some or all of the passengers and crew,'' Major-General Benjamin Freakley, a coalition commander, said in a statement. ''Unfortunately, there were no survivors.'' Earlier in the day coalition forces reported 16 people were aboard the helicopter, but it said in a statement later that only 12 bodies had been recovered.

The Dutch defence ministry confirmed that two of its troops had died, the first Dutch military fatalities in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's interior ministry said the helicopter belonged to a Western company and that three foreign women were among those killed.

No further details about those on board were available.

The coalition said an aviation search and rescue team despatched to the site was forced to return due to bad weather, but a second team led by a local Afghan had reached the area on foot.

''There is no indication yet on what caused the crash,'' coalition spokesman Colonel Tom Collins told a news conference.

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