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          Five Killed in Helicopter Crash at NATO Base in Afghanistan

   by VOA News

   A helicopter crash at a NATO base in Afghanistan's capital Sunday
   killed five coalition service members and injured five others.

   NATO did not release the nationalities of the dead and injured.
   However, the British Defense Ministry identified two of those killed in
   the incident as Royal Air Force personnel.

   The helicopter crashed while landing in Kabul at the headquarters of
   the NATO Resolute Support Mission, which is training Afghan security
   forces.

   The British defense ministry statement said it could confirm that the
   crash "was an accident and not the result of insurgent activity."

   The accident happened just hours after a Taliban suicide car bomber
   struck a British forces convoy in Kabul.  Officials said three
   civilians were wounded in the attack, but no fatalities were reported.

   Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid emailed a detailed statement about
   the attack to VOA.  He said the suicide car bombing was carried out in
   response to air raids by foreign troops in different parts of
   Afghanistan, including Kunduz, which killed Afghan civilians, including
   doctors.

   He claimed that at least 12 people were killed in the bombing Sunday,
   though the militant group is known for exaggerating the death tolls in
   similar attacks.

   Taliban insurgents overran Kunduz in a stunning assault in late
   September, prompting a massive counter-offensive by Afghan security
   forces backed by U.S. airstrikes that retook most of the city.

   One of the air raids on October 3 mistakenly struck a hospital in
   Kunduz run by Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym,
   MSF, according to U.S. military and civilian officials.

   The attack left at least 22 people dead, including 12 MSF staff and 10
   patients.  Thirty-three are still missing, according to the charity
   group.  All the victims were Afghans.

   Taliban fighters have mostly withdrawn from Kunduz, but some are still
   hiding in civilian homes and carrying out ambushes against security
   forces, according to Afghan officials.

   On Saturday, the U.S. embassy in Kabul warned its citizens that
   militants were planning to conduct a "complex" attack "on or about"
   October 12 using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device and
   suicide bombers against the U.N. headquarters or other facilities in
   the city.

   "The security situation in Afghanistan is extremely unstable, and
   threat to all U.S. citizens in Afghanistan remains critical. U.S.
   citizens currently visiting or residing in Afghanistan may wish to
   consider departing," the embassy said in a statement.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/helicopter-crash-at-nato-base-afghanistan/3002101.html