BAGRAM AIR BASE, Nov 24: A helicopter carrying US troops has crashed near the main coalition base in Afghanistan killing five and injuring seven others, but cause was unknown, the US military said on Monday.

The MH-53 transport helicopter was taking part in a major operation to hunt Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the country’s northeast when it came down outside Bagram Air Base.

“The service members were supporting Operation Mountain Resolve. The cause of the crash is also unknown and under investigation,” US military spokesman Maj Richard Sater told reporters at Bagram.—AFP