KABUL: A helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province on Monday was not a military aircraft, a spokesman for Nato forces said.

Afghan police had earlier reported that a “foreign troops' helicopter” crashed in flames in Nad Ali district near Shora, and Taliban insurgents claimed they had shot it down.

“What we can confirm is the crash of a civilian helicopter in southern Afghanistan,” the spokesman for Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) told AFP.

No details on casualties were available from either the police or Isaf.