Afghanistan: Chopper crash, violence kill 7 Western troops

Some seven foreign troops have been killed in a helicopter crash and separate attacks in a rugged area of southern Afghanistan where fighting has raged for days. The latest deaths brought the number of international service members killed in Afghanistan this month to at least 62, including 41 Americans. NATO and Australian officials said there was no evidence that hostile fire was responsible for the crash, although Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed the insurgents shot down the helicopter with a rocket. Afghan officials said the crash occurred in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar, the scene of recent heavy fighting involving Australian and US special operations troops and Taliban fighters. The area controls routes into Uruzgan province, where most of Australia's 1,500 soldiers are based. Besides the service members killed in the copter crash, five additional international service members, including four Americans, died in separate attacks. Two Americans were killed in a bomb attack in the east, one American was killed in a firefight in the south and a fourth American was killed in a bomb attack in the southern part of the country. In addition, an international service member whose nationality was not immediately known was killed in a second bomb attack in the south.