KABUL, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Fourteen British troops
were killed in a plane crash in the southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan on
Saturday, an ISAF spokesman told Xinhua.
"An ISAF plane supporting ISAF
and Afghan ground troops crashed Saturday, killing 14 British soldiers," said
Luke Knittig, spokesman of the NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF). "The incident took place at 4:00 p.m. local time (1130
GMT)."
He declined to identify the plane's type, saying more
information would be released by the British Defense Ministry.
However, he ruled out the involvement of hostile fire
in the incident, saying, "We have no report of enemy action."
It is the second plane of ISAF, which crashed in
Afghanistan over the past three days. In the previous incident, a Dutch F-16
serving NATO crashed in the southern Ghazni province on late Thursday leaving
its pilot dead.
NATO and Afghan troops launched a massive operation
against Taliban-linked militants in the restive Panjwai and Jalai district of
Kandahar Saturday morning. Enditem
Related story:
KABUL, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- A war plane of the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) crashed in Taliban's former
stronghold Kandahar Saturday while supporting troops in war on militants, an
official of the multinational forces said.
"We have information an ISAF plane supported ISAF and
Afghan troops was missing. The incident took place at 4:00 p.m. local time (1130
GMT)," spokesman of NATO here Luck Knittig told Xinhua.
He declined to identify the type of the plane saying
at this point he cannot provide more details.
However, he ruled out the involvement of hostile fire
in the incident, saying, "We have no report of enemy action."
