AFGHANISTAN: At least 17 Spanish troops with the Nato-led peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan were killed yesterday in a helicopter crash during an exercise near the western city of Herat, a Spanish defence ministry spokesman said.
Another helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing after the first chopper went down south of Spain's base at Herat. Spanish state radio reported that five troops from the second helicopter were injured.
Spanish defence minister Jose Bono said the second Cougar helicopter flying in the area had spotted a column of black smoke rising from a nearby valley and added that the crash could have been caused by an attack.
"It may have been an accident or it may have been an attack from the outside," Mr Bono told a news conference. "It has absolutely not been ruled out that it might have been an attack." Major Andrew Elmes, a spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said the force believed the crash was an accident, adding an investigation was under way to find out what caused it.
A senior Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah, said guerrillas had shot down the chopper but he had no proof.
Both helicopters had been on exercise at the time in preparation for the Afghan parliamentary polls planned for next month.
Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero interrupted his holiday to return to Madrid.
Herat is in the heart of a relatively secure part of Afghanistan and the Taliban and its Islamic allies are less active there than in the eastern and southern parts of the country.
The crash is the second air disaster for Spanish troops in Afghanistan. In 2003 an aircraft bringing 62 Spanish peacekeepers back from Afghanistan crashed in Turkey, killing all those on board.
Taliban militants shot down a US military helicopter in June in the eastern province of Kunar, killing 16 American soldiers. Eighteen Americans also died in a helicopter crash during a dust storm on April 6th. - (Reuters)