Helicopter crash kills 4 NATO service members
Four members of NATO's International Security Assistance Force died Monday in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, military officials said.
The dead included three Australian service members, according to Australian defense force chief Marshal Houston. Houston said 10 Australians were among the 15 people on board a coalition chopper taking part in military operations.
"This was not the result of enemy action," Houston said. An ISAF soldier from another country also was killed, Australian Minister for Defense John Faulkner said.
Australia lost two soldiers in a roadside bombing earlier this month. Sixteen Australians have died during operations in Afghanistan since 2001.
In addition, two ISAF service members died in separate incidents in southern Afghanistan involving improvised explosive devices, the military said Monday. No further information was immediately available. It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identifications to the countries from which the service members died.
CNN's Hugh Williams contributed to this report.
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