KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A NATO helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing six members of the international military force, the U.S.-led coalition said.
The coalition said in a news release early this morning that there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash in southern Afghanistan. The cause of the crash is still being investigated. The coalition did not disclose the nationalities of those killed.
The helicopter crash occurred on the same day seven civilians were killed outside a crowded gate at Kandahar Air Field, a sprawling base for U.S. and NATO operations, after a suicide attacker set off a vehicle laden with explosives. The Taliban claimed responsibility, claiming it was targeting a NATO convoy.
It was the second suicide bombing in as many days in southern Afghanistan, officials said. The coalition said no NATO troops were killed. It does not disclose information about injured troops.
Separately, Afghan authorities reported Thursday that avalanches have killed at least 29 people in the country’s mountainous northeast.
Two witnesses said they suspect the suicide car bomber was trying to hit U.S. forces because he detonated his explosives just as two pickup trucks, which they say are often used by American special forces, were leaving the base.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef said NATO forces opened fire after the bombing and that they killed three of the seven civilians who died. The coalition denied this, saying there was no fighting after the blast.
Earlier, officials reported that the suicide bomber was walking near the gate, but the Afghan Ministry of Interior later said the attacker was driving a Toyota Corolla.
Zalmai Ayubi, spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, said two children were among the seven civilians killed. He said eight other civilians, including two children and one woman, were injured in the explosion.
Gates to the larger U.S. bases in Afghanistan often are crowded with trucks waiting to deliver goods and services, and local Afghans going to or coming back from jobs on the compounds.
Safiullah, a 40-year-old fuel tank driver from neighboring Zabul province, was waiting his turn to enter the base when the blast occurred.
“There was dust and smoke everywhere,” said Safiullah, who uses just one name. “I got down on my knees. When the smoke lifted, I moved closer. I saw two children dead at the side of the road.”
At the time of the explosion, two pickups were leaving the base, he said. He said he remembered that because he and another man were conversing at the time about how U.S. special forces sometimes use that kind of truck.
The explosion shattered the window of a taxi driven by Sabiullah Khan, who was at the gate waiting for customers.
“I put my head down in my car,” he said. “For three or four minutes, I was afraid. I was reciting the words of the Koran,” the Muslim holy book. “When the smoke cleared and I knew I was OK, I started looking outside. People were shouting for help. I saw one vehicle on fire. The Afghan army were running and taking out the wounded.”
On Wednesday, 13 civilians, including three Afghan policemen, were killed when a suicide attacker blew himself up in a bazaar in neighboring Helmand province.
The Helmand governor’s office said 22 others were wounded in the blast in Kajaki district. The coalition said some international troops were killed and wounded in the attack, but it did not disclose details.
Late Wednesday, NATO reported that one coalition trooper had been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, but it would not say whether the service member died in the Kajaki bombing or some other incident.
