Five Americans die in Afghan helicopter crash

KABUL - A US military helicopter crashed during an anti-militant operation in Afghanistan on Sunday, killing all five American crew members, just days after President Hamid Karzai questioned the need for military operations.

The crash of the CH-47 Chinook in the southern province of Zabul came after a series of clashes between US-led forces and Taleban insurgents following September 18 legislative elections that the guerrillas failed in their vow to derail.

US military spokesman Colonel Jim Yonts said the helicopter crashed in Zabul's Dai Chophan district while returning to base after dropping off troops during an anti-militant operation.

He said it was too early to determine the cause of the crash, but all indications were that hostile fire was not to blame.

"Five crew members on board were killed," he said. "People on the ground have just started a preliminary investigation and recovery operations are under way."

Yonts said that while militant forces were in the area of the operation, the aircraft, part of a flight of helicopters involved in the mission, came down in a rugged, remote area where there was no civilian population.

"Indications are from crew members' ... reports that there was no hostile file that caused this crash," he said, adding that a mechanical problem may have been to blame.

In the past six months four Chinooks have crashed in Afghanistan killing 56 people, mostly American servicemen.

The United States leads a multinational force of about 20,000 troops pursuing Taleban and allied militants in Afghanistan and up until Sunday, at least 49 US troops had died this year in hostile fire.

This has made 2005 the bloodiest year for US forces since they overthrew the Taleban in late 2001 for refusing to give up al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11 attacks on US cities.

In another incident early on Sunday, two guerrillas were killed and two wounded trying to plant a roadside bomb in Helmand province, provincial spokesman Haji Mohammad Wali said.

CHINOOK CASUALTIES

In the deadliest incident involving a Chinook this year, 15 American servicemen and three US civilian contractors were killed in April when their CH-47 crashed during a dust storm in Ghazni province.

In June, an MH-47 -- a special forces version of the CH-47 -- was shot down during an anti-guerrilla mission in the eastern province of Kunar, killing all US 16 troops on board.

Last month, a Spanish military helicopter crashed near the western city of Herat, killing all 17 Spanish soldiers on board. Spain's defence ministry said there was no evidence of hostile fire.

On Friday, the US military said it had killed at least 10 insurgents in fighting in the central province of Uruzgan in which ground troops were backed by attack helicopters.

News of those air strikes came just days after Karzai called for a change in strategy in the war against insurgents, saying he did not think there was a big need for military action, and questioning the use of US air power.

US Assistant Defence Secretary Peter Rodman responded to Karzai's remarks on Thursday by saying Washington still saw the need for military action but agreed with him on air strikes.

Despite an upsurge of violence this year in which more than 1,000 people, most of them insurgents, have died, about 6.8 million of 12 million registered voters took part in last week's polls.

The turnout was down on last year's presidential vote that endorsed Karzai's U.S.-backed rule.

Election authorities said they had counted about a fifth of votes for the national assembly and provincial councils, the first to be held in more than 35 years.

Provisional results are expected by the first week of October and final, official results by October 22.

(additional reporting by Sayed Salahuddin and Robert Birsel)

- REUTERS