KABUL — Seven American troops and four Afghans died in a Black Hawk helicopter crash on Thursday in southern Afghanistan, the NATO military coalition said. The Taliban claimed their fighters shot down the aircraft. NATO said it is investigating the cause of the crash. The coalition had no immediate comment on the insurgents' claim that they shot down the helicopter. Officials in Kandahar province said the helicopter went down in the north of the province. Among the dead were seven American service members, three members of Afghan security forces and one Afghan civilian interpreter, said Jamie Graybeal, a spokesman for the coalition. He said the aircraft was a UH-60 Black Hawk but declined to give any details of the aircraft's mission. — AP
