February 19, 2007	Monday	Safar 1, 1428

KABUL, Feb 18: Eight US soldiers were killed and 14 injured when a helicopter crashed in an insurgency-hit part of southeastern Afghanistan early on Sunday after a “sudden loss of power,” the US-led coalition said.

The twin-rotor transport helicopter came down in darkness in the southeastern province of Zabul, about 250 kilometres southwest of Kabul, not far from a main highway, residents and officials said.

The coalition would not release the location and details of the incident until the recovery operation was completed.

“Eight coalition personnel were killed and 14 others were wounded early on Sunday when a coalition CH-47 helicopter had a sudden, unexplained loss of power and control and crashed in eastern Afghanistan,” a coalition statement said.

“The helicopter was transporting a total of 22 people, including aircrew, at the time of the crash,” it said.

The coalition said an investigation would be launched to verify the cause of the crash. It had said earlier the helicopter came down after reporting engine failure.

The coalition advised Afghans to stay away from the crash site for their own safety. “Recent reporting indicated a Taliban build-up for operations against the coalition forces in the region,” it said.

The chopper was on a transport mission and not a combat operation, coalition spokesman Lieutenant Colonel David Accetta said. He could not confirm the destination of the aircraft.

“It had a sudden unexplained loss of power and control. We are not sure what caused that,” he said.

“It is far too early in the investigation to say how they died but initial indications are that they were injured and killed in the crash. There will be a thorough investigation to verify if that is the case,” he said.

The bodies had been recovered and the wounded were at a military medical facility, he said. Information about their condition could not be released to the media.

The deaths take to 12 the number of foreign troops who have died in Afghanistan this year. Some 170 were killed in the country last year, about two-thirds in hostile action.

The US military said it was shot down by a “lucky strike” from a rocket-propelled grenade. The last chopper crash in Afghanistan was in early December, when a civilian helicopter went down between the southern city of Kandahar and Uruzgan province. All eight people on board were killed.--AFP