KABUL (Reuters) - A helicopter belonging to U.S.-led coalition troops was shot down by small-arms fire south of the Afghan capital on Wednesday, but there were no serious injuries to those on board, the U.S. military said.
The pilots landed the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter safely andevacuated all personnel before it caught fire in the Kharwardistrict of Logar province, where Taliban militants are knownto be active.
"Coalition forces cleared the area using helicopters,show-of-force and firing warning rounds before usingprecision-guided munitions to destroy the helicopter," the U.S.military said.
It was the second coalition helicopter to crash in a week.The other incident, in Kunar province in the northeast, isunder investigation but indications are that the helicoptercrashed due to mechanical failure, a U.S. military spokesmansaid.
Removed from power in 2001 by U.S.-led troops, theresurgent Taliban claimed responsibility for downing thehelicopter and said that all those on board were killed. Thegroup said it shot down the helicopter with anti-aircraftrockets.
The Taliban have brought down a number of aircraft, but sofar the militants are not thought to have obtainedsurface-to-air missiles that could alter the balance of the wardramatically.
Many historians believe it was the Afghan mujahideen'sacquisitions of such missiles that tipped the war against theSoviet occupation in their favour in the 1980s.
International troops rely heavily on aircraft to transporttroops and supplies around the rugged mountainous country.
Elsewhere, a suicide car bomber hit a convoy of NATO forceson Wednesday, wounding two Canadian soldiers, three policemenand two civilians on a road near the southern town of SpinBoldak which lies on the border with Pakistan, said borderpolice commander Abdul Razaq.
Afghanistan has seen a rise in violence this year, despitethe increased presence of foreign troops, now numbering morethan 70,000.
The austere Islamist Taliban have vowed to step up theircampaign of guerrilla, suicide and roadside bomb attacks thisyear to undermine Afghan support for the government in Kabuland pressure foreign troops into pulling out.
(Additional reporting by Saeed Ali Achakzai in Chaman,Pakistan; Writing by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by AlexRichardson)
