At least nine members of the Afghan military were killed in a helicopter crash in central province of Afghanistan, the country’s defence ministry said on Thursday.
The crash happened Wednesday night in a volatile district in Wardak province, where Afghan forces and local militias have bitterly fought.
In a statement, the defence said that four crew members of the MI-17 helicopter along with five security personnel were killed in the crash, in the Behsud district of Maidan Wradak province.
“The ministry of defense is investigating the cause of the crash,” it added.
Spokesman for the Wardak provincial Governor, Mohibullah Sharifi, confirmed the helicopter crash, but did not provide further details.
Helicopter crashes are common in Afghanistan either due to technical problems or militant attacks.
Separately on Thursday, a bombing killed four state employees commuting in a minibus in the capital Kabul, police.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack, but government employees have been targeted before. On Monday, another bombing on a minibus carrying state workers in Kabul killed three women and a 3-year-old child, and wounded 13 others, according to security officials.
