Five killed in RAF helicopter crash in Afghanistan

A HELICOPTER accident has left five people dead and five injured after crashing during a landing attempt at a NATO training mission headquarters in Kabul on Sunday, October 11.

Two RAF personnel are among those dead, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. 

Latest reports from Afghan officials say that the Puma Mk 2 aircraft may have hit a security surveillance balloon.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said; “It is with regret that (we) must announce the death of two personnel from 230 and 33 Squadrons, Royal Air Force, in Kabul following an accident involving a UK Puma Mk 2 helicopter.

“The helicopter crashed while landing at the headquarters of Resolute Support: the NATO train, advise and assist mission in Afghanistan. The incident is currently under investigation but we can confirm that it was an accident and not the result of insurgent activity.”

She added that their relatives have been informed and their names have not been released as of yet.

The RAF squadrons involved are based at RAF Benson, a site in south Oxfordshire between Oxford and Reading.

The Resolute Support Mission released a statement confirming the information released by the Ministry of Defence and said that the identities of the other victims would be released by the domestic authorities relevant to each case.

After the International Security Assistance Force stood down in Afghanistan last year, Resolute Support took over the responsibility of assisting and training Afghan security forces under the supervision of NATO.

These deaths bring the total number of British forces personnel or Ministry of Defence civilians killed while serving in Afghanistan to 456 since operations began in October 2001.