Helicopter is shot down and bombing kills 2 coalition soldiers in Afghanistan
The crew of the U.S. helicopter is rescued. In a separate attack, soldiers are killed by a suicide bomber dressed as an Afghan policeman.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan — Insurgents today downed a U.S. helicopter in a province near the capital, the American military said -- a highly unusual feat for the Taliban. The crew survived and was rescued, an American military spokesman said.
Also today, a suicide bomber disguised as an Afghan policeman killed two American soldiers at a police station in northern Afghanistan, provincial officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which also injured some Afghan officers, according to police in Baghlan province.
The U.S. military confirmed the deaths of two members of the U.S.-led coalition in the bombing in Baghlan's provincial capital, Pul-e-Khumri, but did not immediately confirm their nationalities. Three coalition soldiers were hurt, a spokesman said.
The downed helicopter had been flying over Wardak province, west of Kabul, when it came under small-arms fire from insurgents, said U.S. spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Walter Matthews. The crew returned fire, but the craft was forced down, he said.
Matthews declined to say how many people were aboard but said, without providing details, that they were all "extracted" from the area. Wardak province has become an insurgent stronghold in recent months, which has helped choke off the free flow of traffic into and out of the capital.
Coalition troops were working to recover the helicopter, the U.S. military said.
In more than seven years of fighting, insurgents have rarely managed to down Western helicopters. Choppers are a crucial mode of transport for troops and supplies because many of Afghanistan's roads are poorly maintained and dangerous, and coalition bases are widely scattered amid extremely rough terrain.
The suicide bombing in the north came as U.S. soldiers were meeting with local police officials, and the bomber tried to push his way inside the police chief's office, according to accounts from local officials. U.S. troops have taken the lead in training Afghan police.
A Taliban spokesman, speaking from an undisclosed location, claimed responsibility for the bombing. The spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, identified the bomber as Abdul Ahad and said he was from Baghlan province, which is about 100 miles northeast of Kabul.
The Taliban are sometimes able to obtain Afghan police and army uniforms, providing them to attackers to disguise themselves. But insurgents are also believed to have infiltrated some local police squadrons and attacked American troops. Two U.S. soldiers were killed in such shootings in the last month, both in eastern Afghanistan.
King is a Times staff writer.
laura.King@latimes.com
