E-Paper
Two pilots hurt in Afghanistan NATO plane crash: military
Two pilots were injured when a NATO airplane crashed at an airbase in Afghanistan, one day after 16 civilians were killed in a helicopter accident at the same base, a military spokesman said.
Two pilots were injured on Monday when a NATO airplane crashed at an airbase in Afghanistan, one day after 16 civilians were killed in a helicopter accident at the same base, a military spokesman said.
Mohammad Aslam Yar, media advisor at Kandahar airbase, said the accident involved an aircraft of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which is helping Afghan troops battle a Taliban insurgency.
“At 7:20am this morning an ISAF airplane crashed in Kandahar airbase,” he told AFP by phone from the southern province.
“There were two pilots who ejected and were taken to a military hospital inside the base for treatment. Apart from that there are no other casualties. No enemy fire was involved, the plane is still burning.”
He did not reveal the nationality of the pilots.
At the same air base on Sunday, a civilian-contracted helicopter crashed on take-off, ISAF reported, killing 16 civilians.
It was the second deadly helicopter crash in less than a week after a civilian helicopter crashed in southern Helmand province last Tuesday, killing six passengers and a child on the ground.
On Saturday, two US crew were killed when their fighter plane went down in mountainous eastern Afghanistan. The US Air Force said the crash was not due to hostile fire.
