HELICOPTER Crash in Afghanistan Has Left Two RAF Personnel Dead

A HELICOPTER crash in Afghanistan has left two RAF personnel dead, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The UK Puma Mk 2 aircraft crashed during landing at the headquarters of NATO's Resolute Support mission in the capital Kabul earlier today.

Three other coalition members were killed in the tragedy while five others suffered injuries.

An MoD spokeswoman said: "The incident is currently under investigation but we can confirm that it was an accident and not the result of insurgent activity.

"The family of the two personnel who were killed have been informed and requested a period of grace before their names are released."

The MoD has not revealed the gender of the victims or their ages but confirmed they were British.

They were from 230 and 33 Squadrons, which both are based at RAF Benson, between Oxford and Reading in south Oxfordshire.

Resolute Support is a NATO-led mission to train and assist Afghan security forces and institutions, following the stand-down of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) last year.

GETTY

A gunner onboard a Puma Mark 2 helicopter

The incident is currently under investigation but we can confirm that it was an accident and not the result of insurgent activity

MoD spokeswoman

The tragedy follows a separate incident this morning when a convoy of UK military vehicles was attacked in Kabul. 

Three civilians - said to include a woman and a child - were wounded but no-one was killed.

The MoD said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device and there were no British casualties.

But the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, and Kabul's police chief said the Nato convoy was targeted by a suicide car bomber.

An MoD spokesman said: "We can confirm that at approximately 9.10am this morning a convoy of UK military vehicles on a routine road move, as part of the Nato Resolute Support mission in Kabul, was struck by an improvised explosive device. There were no UK casualties."

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid sent a statement to local media claiming responsibility for the explosion.

There have been a number of attacks in Kabul in recent weeks, including an incident on October 6 in which the house of former Helmand governor Nahim Baloch was targeted.

The last UK base in Afghanistan, Camp Bastion, was handed over to the control of Afghan security forces in October last year, ending British combat operations in the country.

The latest deaths bring the total number of British forces personnel or MoD civilians killed while serving in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001 to 456.

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