KABUL, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Amid fighting between Taliban militants and government security forces in different parts of the conflict-ridden Afghanistan, three helicopters have crashed over the past two days on Sunday and Monday, leaving seven people, including five NATO personnel, dead.
A helicopter of Afghan army crashed in the central Bamyan province Monday afternoon, killing two people aboard and injuring five others, spokesman for Bamyan provincial government Abdul Rahmand Ahmadi said.
"A chopper of Afghan army crashed in Shah-e-Fuladi area at 2:00 p.m. local time (0930 GMT), leaving two persons aboard dead and injured five others," Ahmadi told Xinhua.
He couldn't provide more details. The Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman was not immediately available to make comment.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a purported spokesman for the Taliban, said that the Taliban militants shot down a military helicopter in Yakawlang district of Bamyan province on Monday.
Bamyan is the most peaceful province in the conflict-ridden country.
Later in the day, two crews of an Afghan army helicopter were injured as their chopper crashed in the eastern Logar province.
"An army helicopter was taking off in Kharwar district at 3:00 p.m. local time (1030 GMT) when it developed technical problems and downed, injuring two crews," spokesman for the provincial government Salim Saleh said.
This is the third chopper crash in Afghanistan over the past two days.
On Sunday, a helicopter of NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission crashed in the Afghan capital Kabul, killing five aboard and injuring five others.
"A United Kingdom Puma Mk 2 helicopter assigned to the Resolute Support Mission crashed in a non-hostile incident Oct. 11 at approximately 4:15 p.m. (local time) at Camp Resolute Support, Kabul, Afghanistan," the alliance said in a statement. "The incident resulted in the death of two British service members, two U.S. service members, and one French contracted civilian," the statement added.
Five other Resolute Support personnel were injured in the incident.
However, the statement did not identify the nationalities of those injured in the air incident, saying, "It is Resolute Support policy to defer casualty identification to the relevant national authorities."
Taliban militants have speeded up activities against government interests over the past couple of months and have captured few districts.
The militants also conducted a suicide car bomb in Kabul on Sunday, leaving the suicide bomber dead and injuring seven passersby, all civilians.
