KABUL - Six foreign civilian contractors were killed in a helicopter crash Tuesday in southern Afghanistan after two US marines were killed in an insurgent attack in the same region, officials said.
The contractors were killed in the Sangin district of Helmand province, a NATO spokesman in Kabul said.
“We can confirm that all six contractors on board were killed in the incident,” said the spokesman, who asked not to be named.
One Afghan civilian on the ground was wounded, the spokesman said without giving details about the contractors’ mission or the cause of the crash.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousif Ahmadi, had earlier claimed that its fighters had downed a Chinook helicopter near a British military base in the district.
A police official in the province who requested anonymity confirmed the crash but said that according to police forces on the ground at the time of the crash, there were no insurgents in the area.
Meanwhile, two US marines taking part in an operation in Helmand were killed in an insurgent attack, a US military spokesman in Afghanistan said.
The soldiers, who were operating under the banner of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), were killed Monday, the ISAF said in a statement.
Since the beginning of this month, US and British soldiers have been conducting two major operations in Helmand, which has been the main hub for Taliban militants during the eight years since their regime was ousted from power in a 2001 US-led invasion.
Fifteen British soldiers have been killed in the province in the past two weeks, making it the bloodiest period for British forces since their deployment in the country in late 2001. More than 8,000 British troops are stationed in the volatile province.
About 5,000 US marines and Afghan forces have also been taking part in a major operation against the Taliban in the province since July 2. The combined forces have recaptured one district in the province, where the militants still hold sway in at least three other districts.
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