E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSAll seven Americans aboard the helicopter were killed, including two Navy SEALs. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
Updated at 3:08 p.m. ET: Seven American troops were killed Thursday when the Black Hawk helicopter they were traveling in crashed in southern Afghanistan, possibly shot down by enemy forces, U.S. officials told NBC News.
Three of the Americans were U.S. Navy sailors – two were Navy SEALS and one was an explosive ordnance disposal sailor.
Three Afghan soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were also killed, bringing the total number of dead to 11, officials said.
According to U.S. officials, the helicopter had just landed in a "hot zone" to insert a small number of combat forces to support an ongoing operation. It was apparently shot down shortly after it took off to depart the area.
The helicopter was totally destroyed on impact.
U.S. officials at the Pentagon and in Kabul tell NBC News that American forces engaged in a shootout with enemy forces on the ground who were trying to reach the crash site.
The crash marked another deadly day for the U.S. in Afghanistan, less than a week after six American service members were gunned down, apparently by two members of the Afghan security forces they were training to take over the fight against the insurgency as international combat troops prepare to exit the country by the end of 2014.
As NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports, US military officials are investigating whether or not the Taliban was in fact involved in deadly Black Hawk helicopter crash that claimed the lives of seven US soldiers and four Afghan troops.
The recent spike in American deaths and attacks by Afghan allies have stirred fresh doubts about the prospects for the U.S. plan to leave a capable Afghan government in place when most troops depart after more than a decade of war.
Spokesman Brig. Gen Gunter Katz said the NATO coalition is investigating the cause of Thursday's crash in Shah Wali Kot, Kandahar.
Dozens killed in Afghan suicide bomber attacks
The Taliban claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter, saying they were able to bring down the aircraft during a raid by the "invaders."
While the Taliban often exaggerate their victories and are quick to claim any incident involving the death of foreign troops, it could be significant that they took responsibility for Thursday's crash hours before NATO announced it.
Ahmad Jamshid / AP
More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
"Nobody survived this," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press by telephone.
Insurgent hotbed
The area where the helicopter went down is an insurgent hotbed and supply route, lying north of Kandahar city near Zabul and Uruzgan provinces. The insurgents regularly attack police checkpoints around the rural villages of the district and plant bombs in the road to catch passing government vehicles.
Is the Taliban softening its stance on girls' education?
Thursday's crash is the deadliest since a Turkish helicopter crashed into a house near the Afghan capital, Kabul, on March 16, killing 12 Turkish soldiers on board and four Afghan civilians on the ground, officials said.
The Taliban shot down a CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter in August 2011, killing all 38 people on board, including 25 U.S. special operations service members.
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a medium-lift helicopter that has served as the U.S. Army's workhorse since the 1980s.
Dozens have been killed following a rash of deadly suicide bombings in Afghanistan. NBC's Atia Abawi reports.
The U.S.-led NATO force in Afghanistan has relied heavily on utility helicopters such as the Black Hawk to ferry troops, dignitaries and supplies around the mountainous terrain, thus avoiding the threat of ambushes and roadside bombs.
Afghan bomber kills senior Army leader, 2 majors
Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said this week that the Taliban had not let up on attacks during Ramadan and security forces had stepped up security ahead of the Eid al-Fitr festival, which ends Islam's holiest month.
A half-yearly report by the United Nations last week said 1,145 civilians have been killed between Jan. 1 and June 30 this year as well as 1,954 wounded, representing a 15 percent decline on last year due to a severe winter that hampered fighting.
The search is on for a man in an Afghan Army uniform who killed three US service members. NBC's Atia Abawi joins us live from Kabul with the latest.
Homemade bombs and suicide attacks remain the biggest killers of Afghan civilians and Afghan and foreign troops.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More world stories from NBC News:
- Report: 30 dead in Syrian air strike; strife spills into Lebanon
- NZ skydiver hits ground after parachute fails
- I'd like a beer, 70-year-old says after icy 6-day ordeal in Alps
- Germany arrests 4 suspected of violating Iran embargo
- Study: Japan nuclear disaster caused mutated butterflies
- Restaurateur claims Games cost her business $140,000
- Video: Virtual tour of the next Olympic city
Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
These soldiers should have been home sipping a beer or playing catch with their kids in the backyard. Enough of this insanity. Get the rest of our men and women out of that @!$%# hole and back home where they belong.
RIP. My thoughts are with your families.
Obama lets another 7 US troops die overseas with his inability to lead. And Obuma is letting senior citizens in the US die with his $700 billion in Medicare cuts. Obuma has destroyed America.
Yep. And your good buddy Dub has no blood on his hands even though he was the first to send troops to Afghanistan and fabricated a war in Iraq by creating evidence of WMDs? Your argument is invalid.
Wow you are as deluded and ignorant as the Taliban, why not go over and join them since you appear to be opposed to killing them, though they, not Iraq, as we all well knew, were resp. for hosting the 9/11 killers and many acts of barbaric cruelty to defenseless women and girls.
Remember please all, the previous admin started this and to walk heedlessly away now before killing all the Talibs, that's what would make these tragic losses wasted, nothing else.
Hearts are grieving for these soldiers, their Afghan brothers-in-arms, and their 'terp -- and the families and friends they left behind. My THANKS beyond words for their bravery and sacrifice.
Bring them ALL home NOW. We will never change thousands of years of stone-age culture.
RIP.
as always... the Limballs hate squad is out in farce
Shouldn't there be a door over there somewhere with the word "EXIT" posted above it.
Thank you Republicans for sending our beloved soldiers to die for you. YOU, not our country. Thank you for starting two wars while cutting taxes for the 1% of you of whom Romney is one of your most shining examples of the elite INCOME TAX EVADERS you intend to install in our White House once again to continue your dirty work. And for leaving an economic mess for the next President of the the U.S. to clean up while you all work together for the greater good of the right wing extremists wealthy hate mongerers and completely against the American people, making a pact to continue to do so until your goals are met. Hip-hip hooray for the right wing idiots who just keep voting you evil B#@%*@#s into power.
With that said, lets say a prayer for those men you killed and their families. Your other half of your presidential ticket won't be joining us since he is an ATHEIST Ayn Rand worshiper calling himself a Catholic. Another "brilliant" right wing deception. Oh, yes he will bow his head with us, and moving his lips, but he will not be thinking of these soldiers. Nor will he be talking to our God.
OBAMA/BIDEN 20012!
I offer my heart-felt condolences to the families of these fallen warriors. I wish I felt as if they had died for a just cause, but we all know that is not the case. At least we can be consoled by the fact that our president promised to end this insane war...sometime...maybe later...not yet...soon...next year or maybe the decade after that.
This criminal has always been on the payroll of our globalist masters and never intended on slowing down this very profitable industry, let alone stopping it. The irony is had he done so, our national-security complex (ie the police state) would be even worse than it is now. The pathetic fact is mittons is owned by the same globalist interests and he will expand the war machine to encompass Syria, Yeman, Iran and a host of other sovereign countries. It is Mossaddegh all over again. Once you understand the globalist MO, their actions are simple to understand and predict.
F6Zman: you are correct sir. For the person asking where you got your facts; look them up. The information is readily available.
So we should stay in this pit for how long? For what purpose? We are fighting this war to save the US from what? Our young guys die for what reason? This is beyond shameful it is illegal as it has not been declared a war and we have wasted money and lives for nothing.
SHAME ON YOU ALL FOR MAKING THIS TRAGEDY INTO A POLITICAL DEBATE!
Instead of hating the administration or blaming the policies of Bush or Obama or questioning the validity of the war maybe you should all just take ONE MOMENT to remember that these soldiers died for a cause; they died for you! They have pledged their lives to uphold the principles of our nation and to protect them.
I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade.
My sincerest thanks to these brave Americans for giving the ultimate sacrifice. May you rest in peace. My deepest sympathy to the families and friends for their loss. May they find comfort and strength in this time of sorrow.
How did they die for us though. Looks like they died because they didnt have minds of their own. If we dont support a war...then the soldiers fighting it are not doing it for us...because we oppose it in the first place. To each his own.
I for one, did not want anyone to die for me in this useless war. It's not about our freedom. It's about greed. It's about using our sons, daughters and loved ones for personal gain. As was the BS Viet Nam war. Yes, these men are heroes because they were doing their duty. Following orders. Under the pretense of "for love of country and freedom" shouted by their commanders who are also following orders.
If it ever occurs to any right winger what is really going on here, we will all rejoice. So far the ideologues have been able to keep the truth concealed with their slight of hand, double speak, and various other deceptions.
I have NEVER read so much stupid in my life!!! "No American Soldier should have to die for freedom, someone else's or ours" Are you kidding me?!! Guess what a American Soldier did die for your freedom, it was called the Civil War. And because of that America stands up to defend other countries. Why is it that i would fine to defend countries that are "like us" but not o.k to defend a country that lives under oppression.
Discusted- here is the real reason we are in Afghanistan. It is for Israel and the TAPI gas line, which will ship Israeli owned gas from Turkmenistan to India.
www.rense.com/general15/game.htmCached - Similar
On December 11, apreliminary agreement was signed in Turkmenistan’s capital, Ashgabat, by representatives of the four countries to proceed with plans for the American and Israeli-backed pipeline. Here are the basic points about the TAPI pipeline:
Construction of
pipeline will be completed by 2014 (▼)
1,680 kilometer gas
pipeline will supply 3.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (much of
this gas will come from Israeli/Mossad-owned gas fields in Turkmenistan,
meaning immense profits for the Mossadniks who pulled of 9/11)............►The Obama
administration, elected on the promise to withdraw U.S. troops by July 2011,
now says the U.S. will maintain combat troops in Afghanistan until December
2014. On December 17, the House passed a defense authorization bill (by a
341-48 vote) that authorizes the Pentagon to spend more than $160 billion on
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2011 without major restrictions on the
conduct of operations. Why are U.S. (and NATO) troops being kept in Afghanistan
for another 4 years? What's really going on there? What is the cost and who is
involved in this game??
The real
reason for the U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan is to build and
secure a 1,080-mile long gas pipeline designed to carry trillions of dollars of
Israeli-owned gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India. You could ask how
come Turkmenistans gas could be Israeli-owned, here is the answer:
Following the
break-up of the Soviet Union, Israeli agents sought to gain control of the
strategic assets of the newly independent Soviet republics. In mineral-rich
Turkmenistan, a Mossad agent named Yosef A. Maiman was very successful in
gaining control of the republic's immense resources of natural gas. Yosef
Maiman, born in Germany in 1946, grew up in Peru and studied in the United
States before becoming an Israeli citizen in 1971. As an agent of Israeli
intelligence, Maiman heads a network of Mossad-controlled companies that serve
Israeli interests. As the chief executive of the Merhav Group, Maiman has
controlled the development of Turmenistan's gas resources. Maiman's key
colleagues at Merhav are the former head of the Mossad, Shabtai Shavit, and
Nimrod Novik, chief adviser to Shimon Peres, the current president of Israel.
Maiman was described
as "a leading miner" of Central Asian gas fields by the Jerusalem
Post in 2004. Given their control of the immense gas resources of Turkmenistan,
Maiman, Merhav, and the "Mossad" would all profit if and when the
U.S.-led coalition were able to "pacify" and control Afghanistan so
that the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline could be
built allowing the gas of Turkmenistan to be sold to energy-hungry India . The TAPI pipeline
project would bring billions of dollars into "Mossad" coffers every
year. This is the real reason for the war in Afghanistan and why the
Zionist-controlled Obama administration has increased the war effort in Central
Asia. It has nothing to do with terrorism or 9-11.
Now you
can easily understand why there was need for the "justification" of
this war, which was planned before the 9/11
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1550366.stm). The false-flag terror
attacks of 9/11 were part of a strategic Israeli operation to bring the U.S.
military into Afghanistan on a long-term mission on behalf of Israel’s Turkmen
gas enterprise. The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline is
the real reason that U.S. soldiers are killing and dying in the southwestern
Afghan provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. 9/11 was just the cover story for
this pre-planned war of aggression - and it is nothing but a complete hoax.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/04/the-real-nuclear-outlaws/
F6Zman
No, Bush has not done any of those things, Self pro claimed Democrats like yourself just don't want to face the facts and just blame George Bush for everything.!
#1.7 - Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:36 AM EDT
________________________________________________________________
Well duh, of course, that's because he is to blame!
I am going to vote for Romney/Ryan, but if Obama pulls all of our troops out of that hell hole I will change and vote for him!!!!!
obama/romney gas chamber/electric chair be sure to vote.
I offer my heart-felt condolences to the families of these fallen warriors. I wish I felt as if they had died for a just cause, but we all know that is not the case. At least we can be consoled by the fact that our president promised to end this insane war...sometime...maybe later...not yet...soon...next year or maybe the decade after that.
This criminal has always been on the payroll of our globalist masters and never intended on slowing down this very profitable industry, let alone stopping it. The irony is had he done so, our national-security complex (ie the police state) would be even worse than it is now. The pathetic fact is mittons is owned by the same globalist interests and he will expand the war machine to encompass Syria, Yeman, Iran and a host of other sovereign countries. It is Mossaddegh all over again. Once you understand the globalist MO, their actions are simple to understand and predict.
F6Zman: you are correct sir. For the person asking where you got your facts; look them up. The information is readily available.
LOL
Bring the boys back home home home , bring the boys back home .
7 explosions rock Kabul today. Looks like US military plan offers no security but how can it when the eye has been taken off the ball again replaced by the large Pacific basin that can be defended for years with deficit spending money.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/Multiple-explosions-rock-diplomatic-area-of-Kabul/videoshow/12675273.cms
Explosions and gunfire rocked the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday as suicide bombers struck across Afghanistan in coordinated attacks claimed by Taliban insurgents as the start of a spring offensive.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120416/world/Taliban-militants-blitz-city-of-Kabul.415686
My prayers to the families of the Americans killed. They were killed for nothing but corporate greed. The POS muslim in the white house has failed in everything he has done , except taking America to the brink of financial ruin. Time to get our asses out of all these foreign wars that do nothing but help bankrupt America.I am tired of seeing our young people in the VA hospitals all torn up.enough already, bring all our troops home. Let the damn muslims kill each other , who cares. A disabled USMC vietnam combat vet
God bless you Gunny and thank you for serving our Country.
divide and conquer.from battle feilds to little post.all of the fighting from macro to micro.this is why we will lose it all.
Mr. President another disaster ....YOU DID build. By the way...I DID build my business!
Settle down, Beavis.
Danger, wrong on both counts: he inherited the Afghan mess and has tried hard to make it right; and he did NOT say you didn't build your business, only the roads, schools, phones, internet, and healthy country around you that helped allow you to do it. And you know it.
When are we the U.S. going to stop playing soldier over there and let the military do their job. Stop allowing the civilians including odumbo from running the military. Just tell the head of afgainistan to step aside because we are going in full blast and destroy the area the terrorist are hiding. Drop bombs 24/7 until they bring out the white flags that they use on their heads.
Bush did the same for 8 years Yevrah - New boss same as old boss as someone said. Yesterday, Pakistan Air Base that stores some of their nuclear weapons was attacked also.
What, no countdown by the press? How come this is not being mashed in Barry's face? Is it not his fault? Oh, I forgot, it is GW's, just like everything else. No strategic plan, never any discussion by Barry on this, a complete pass by the media and our men and women keep getting picked off left and right. Economy is at a crawl, stimulus money wasted by his cronies, Socializing our medicine and now, a military that is spinning it's wheels. Great job,,,let's get 4 more for sure, that way we can all end up speaking Greek or Spanish!
Very sad indeed; God Bless our Troops and their families for their many sacrifices.
remember their god is different than your god. their god wants your ass dead
That is strange to me because I was just thinking of the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter that was shot down in August 2011. I think someone brought this one down too, maybe someone onboard. Was anyone important or a stand out on this helicopter also. I guess China will have there hands full.
God bless these troops and their families.......I think all of America would agree....Our departure from this useless conflict is long overdue.
As always, its much easier to get in than get out...misery begets misery.
Hmmm. Must be more leaks.