NATO Helicopter Crashes In W. Afghanistan, Injures 2

A NATO helicopter crashed in “relatively peaceful” West Afghanistan Wednesday, injuring two coalition troops, according to the Associated Press.

The International Security Assistance Force confirmed the crash in a brief statement, but no other details were given other than the ISAF saying “the cause of the crash is under investigation.”

In a statement issued Tuesday, ISAF confirmed that one of their soldiers was killed in an insurgent attack in the southern part of the country. Similar to the statement about the NATO helicopter crash, little was revealed about the situation, and neither the victim’s nationality nor details about the attack were given. ISAF says,

“It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.”

Also on Tuesday, the Afghan Defense Ministry announced Abdul Sabor, an Afghan soldier, would be hanged for the deaths of four French troops on January 20 of this year. The soldiers were killed in the Taqab district of the Kapisa province. A month prior to those attacks, on December 29, two members of the French Foreign Legion were killed by another Afghan soldier.

France’s new president Francois Hollande has decided to pull 2,000 combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year in light of the recent casualties.  Around 1,400 will remain behind to aid with logistics and training.

Since the beginning of 2012, 238 NATO troops have been killed in various incidents across the country, including at least 172 Americans. On July 8, six U.S. soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in the eastern part of the country.