KANDAHAR - A United States military helicopter carrying seven Marines crashed in northern Afghanistan last night, but there were believed to be some survivors.
"I can tell you the crash is in mountainous terrain, high elevation," First Lieutenant James Jarvis said at a Marine base near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
He said there were some survivors but declined to speculate on the cause of the crash. He said rescue crews had reached the remote scene of the accident.
Also last night, the leader of Afghanistan's interim Government, Hamid Karzai, arrived in Japan for an international donors conference where he will seek billions of dollars to rebuild his war-shattered country.
At a two-day conference starting today, more than 60 donor nations are expected to announce an aid package for Afghanistan that the United Nations and the World Bank estimate will cost about $US15 billion over 10 years.
Success of the long and costly endeavour to rebuild the country, participants agree, is key to ensuring that Afghanistan does not again breed radical movements such as the Taleban and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
"If we leave a hole in Afghanistan, what we are going to get out of that hole is more terrorism and more drugs," said a US official travelling with Secretary of State Colin Powell ahead of Powell's arrival in Tokyo.
Donors want proof that Kabul has a viable plan to wean the economy of its drug trade dependence and promote equality for women, and that they can keep track of how their contributions are spent.
Japan's special envoy on Afghan issues, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, expects total pledges to come close to the $US5 billion which the UN and World Bank have estimated are needed for the critical first 30 months.
The four conference co-hosts - Japan, the US, the European Union and Saudi Arabia - are expected to foot most of the bill.
Meanwhile, about 6,000 refugees from Afghanistan have crossed into a refugee camp in western Pakistan this week after local authorities re-opened the border.
But the opening came too late for at least seven children, who died of cold and hunger while waiting.
Philippine troops have set up a jungle camp for US Special Forces who will train local soldiers in missions designed to wipe out Muslim extremists Abu Sayyaf, linked to al Qaeda. It is on Basilan Island.
- REUTERS
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US military helicopter crashes, some survivors
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