Helicopter reported shot down in Afghanistan

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090714/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer Fisnik Abrashi, Associated Press Writer – 12 mins ago

KABUL – A civilian helicopter ferrying humanitarian aid was shot down Tuesday in a southern Afghan province where fighting with the Taliban is raging, killing all six Ukrainian crew members and a child on the ground, officials said. Two U.S. Marines and an Italian soldier died in the latest clashes.

The transport helicopter crashed in flames in the Sangin district of Helmand province, the center of Afghanistan's opium poppy cultivation where thousands of Marines are conducting their biggest offensive since the hardline Islamic movement was ousted from power in 2001.

NATO officials in Kabul said the cause of the crash was under investigation and gave no further details.

But the civil aviation authority of the former Soviet republic of Moldova said a rocket or a missile struck the Mi-26 helicopter, owned by the Moldovan air charter company Pecotox-Airi and carrying six Ukrainians. The helicopter was ferrying humanitarian aid when the crash took place, the Moldovans said in a statement.