Monday, 20 July 2009
An aircraft from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) crashed at the Kandahar airbase in Afghanistan on Monday. When making his public statement on the incident, Mohammad Alsam Yar, media adviser at the Kandahar airbase, said: "There were two pilots who ejected and were taken to a military hospital…Apart from that there are no other casualties. No enemy fire was involved, the plane is still burning." The two pilots are now undergoing treatment.
The ISAF, which is helping Afghan troops in their fight against the Taliban insurgency, has suffered similar accidents at the Kandahar base recently. One day ago, 16 residents perished when a Russian-owned civilian transport helicopter crashed during take-off. Another deadly helicopter accident happened last Tuesday. It resulted in the death of six passengers and a child who happened to be nearby on the ground. Two American crewmen also died last week when their fighter plane crashed in eastern Afghanistan. None of these incidents were due to hostile fire.
Approximately 90,000 foreign troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan. Most of them are from the United States, Britain, and Canada. They have aided Kabul in establishing and maintaining security in the country since the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime.
By George Bogden (JTW) |
Monday, 20 July 2009
Journal of Turkish Weekly
|
|
