ISLAMABAD — At least three Afghan crew members had been killed Saturday when a U.S.-manufactured Black Hawk helicopter they had been flying crashed, the Taliban’s protection ministry mentioned.
The assertion mentioned that 5 others had been wounded within the accident throughout a coaching session overseen by Afghanistan’s protection ministry on the capital of Kabul.
It just isn’t recognized what number of U.S. choppers stay within the arms of the Taliban authorities. As the U.S.-backed Afghan authorities collapsed in mid-August final yr, dozens of Afghan pilots fled to Central Asian international locations, together with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Afghan air drive pilots performed a key position, alongside their U.S. counterparts, within the 20-year warfare in opposition to Taliban insurgents that ended with the departure of overseas troops final yr. The airstrikes inflicted heavy casualties among the many Taliban and repeatedly drove them from positions they’d seized in several elements of the nation.
Last yr about 140 Afghan pilots and others had been flown out of Tajikistan then to Abu Dhabi within the United Arab Emirates and their closing vacation spot within the U.S.
Separately, three civilians had been wounded when a bicycle bomb exploded in Kabul, mentioned Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the the capital’s police chief.
The assault occurred within the Shai neighborhood and there was no speedy declare of duty for the blast.
Recently, the Islamic State group has claimed comparable assaults within the nation. IS has waged a bloody marketing campaign of assaults on Taliban targets and minority teams, significantly Shiites whom the extremist IS considers heretics.
