Helicopter Crash Kills 5 ISAF Troops in Afghanistan

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force and ISAF Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2013 – Five International Security Assistance Force service members died following a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan yesterday, military officials reported.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, but initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the incident, officials said.

It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.

In Afghanistan operations yesterday:

-- A combined Afghan and coalition security force in the Khugyani district of Nangarhar province killed a Taliban leader responsible for coordinating and conducting attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He specialized in improvised explosive device attacks, and also had been involved in small-arms and suicide-bomb attacks.

-- A combined force in Logar province’s Baraki Barak district arrested a Taliban leader accused of directing insurgent activity, including IED operations and direct- and indirect-fire attacks.

And in a March 9 operation, a combined force killed a Taliban leader and two associates in Helmand province’s Nahr-e district after seeing them engaged in insurgent activity. The leader was responsible for directing IED attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, and was linked to kidnappings of Afghan civilians.