• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Military helicopter crash kills 13 in west Afghanistan

RIA Novosti

15/01/2009 18:51 KABUL, January 15 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter crashed in west Afghanistan's Herat province on Thursday morning killing all 13 people who were on board, the country's Defense Ministry said.

One of Afghanistan's top commanders, Gen. Fazel Ahmad Sayar, was killed during the crash, which happened when the helicopter encountered bad weather and hit a mountain, the ministry said in a statement.

The Mi-17 was carrying the delegation to visit an army base in the neighboring province of Farah.

A special commission has been set up to investigate the circumstances of the crash.