NATO helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

Kabul, May 31: A NATO helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force said.

The big, twin-rotored Chinook military helicopter went down in southern Afghanistan, a NATO official in Brussels said, but he had no word on casualties.

''I can confirm that,'' the NATO official said when asked about reports of a crash. ''There are few details. It's a Chinook and it was in the south.'' ''We don't know about casualties but there were people on board when it went down,'' said ISAF spokesman Major John Thomas in Kabul.

Violence has surged in recent months in Afghanistan after the traditional winter lull. Last year's fighting was the bloodiest since the US-led overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 and the militants have vowed to step up their campaign against foreign forces.

The guerrillas are largely active in southern and eastern areas where more than 5,000 people have been killed in the past 16 months.

The violence is rising despite the presence of nearly 50,000 foreign troops led by NATO and the US military as well as about 100,000 Afghan security forces.

Reuters

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