NATO helicopter shot down in Afghanistan; 4 killed

[June 09, 2010]  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A NATO helicopter was shot down in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing four troops, the alliance said.

The helicopter was brought down by hostile fire in volatile Helmand province, NATO said in a statement. It gave no other details.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed responsibility on behalf of the insurgents, saying militants shot down the helicopter with two rockets.

Helmand provincial government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said the attack occurred about midday in Sangin province.

Both U.S. and British troops are operating in Helmand, part of a band of provinces across southern Afghanistan that are the Taliban's heartland.

United States troops have been building in the south as part of President Barack Obama's surge strategy to try to bring an end to the nearly nine-year-old insurgency.

Obama last December ordered some 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, and most of them are due to be deployed in the south.

U.S. commanders are planning a major operation in Kandahar that they hope will turn the tide of the war in time for American troops to begin withdrawing on Obama's stated timetable starting in July 2011. Helmand province abuts Kandahar.

Insurgents have stepped up attacks ahead of the Kandahar operation. The spike in violence has killed 28 NATO troops this month, including Wednesday's casualties.

[Associated Press]

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