Kabul, April 09: Taliban militants say they have shot down a NATO helicopter in the troubled southeastern Afghanistan amid mounting causalities for the US-led forces there.
At least four people have been killed in the fatal incident that took place in Zabul province on Friday.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmedi claims the group has been behind the downing of the helicopter.
Afghan provincial officials have confirmed that the NATO chopper went down in the province of Zabul. They say the helicopter crashed near a village 4 miles from the provincial capital, Qalat.
The US-led alliance is investigating the incident. This is the second NATO helicopter that has gone down in Zabul in the past two weeks.
There are currently over 120,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, and the US and its NATO allies have announced the imminent deployment of 30,000 more troops.
This is while the US-led operations have been criticized by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and tribal elders due to the high numbers of civilian casualties. Locals say civilians often fall victim to military operations by US-led forces.
——–Agencies