Awwal 19, 1432 H/April 23, 2011, SPA -- Insurgents shot down a NATO helicopter Saturday in a mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan where fighting has intensified, and one foreign service member was killed, AP quoted the alliance as saying. The U.S.-led military coalition said the death of the service member was related to the chopper crash in Alasay district of Kapisa province, but that the dead trooper was not aboard the aircraft. The only two crew members were recovered alive, it said. No further details have been disclosed about the crash, which is under investigation. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a telephone call that Taliban insurgents shot down the helicopter with a rocket. He said other coalition helicopters later flew to the crash site and fired weapons to destroy the wreckage. Aziz Rahman Tawab, acting provincial governor in Kapisa province, said the helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain. Aircraft are used extensively in Afghanistan by both NATO and Afghan government forces to transport and supply troops because the terrain is mountainous and roads are few and primitive. In September, a helicopter crash in a rugged area of Zabul province in southern Afghanistan killed nine American troops. Fighting has escalated in the east as Afghan and coalition forces step up their attacks on insurgents along the Pakistani border and militants retaliate with attacks on pro-government forces and Afghan officials.
