US helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

A US-led coalition helicopter crashed in southeastern Afghanistan today after reporting engine failure.

But officials declined to give the number of people on board.

"It was not enemy-fire related," said Col Tom Collins, spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force.

"The pilot was able to radio in that he was having engine problems. We're confident it was not due to enemy action."

The coalition has launched a search and rescue operation for the helicopter and its occupants, said US military spokesman Lt Col David Accetta.

"For the safety of the people on board, we will not release the number of people on board until rescue operations are complete," Accetta said. "Rescue operations are under way."

Accetta also declined to give details about the model of the helicopter and the location of the crash.

Zabul provincial governor Dilber Jan Arman said the helicopter crashed in the Hassan Kariez area of Shahjoi district. He did not have any information about the number of casualties.

Arman said it was possible that the "helicopter crash was due to bad weather".

The military relies heavily on helicopters for transport and operations because of Afghanistan's forbidding terrain and lack of passable roads. Dust and high altitude of Afghan's mountains take a heavy toll on helicopter engines.

It was the first US military helicopter crash since May 2006, when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter that attempted a night time landing on a small mountaintop crashed in eastern Kunar province, killing 10 US soldiers.

In 2005, a US helicopter crashed, also in Kunar, after apparently being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing 16 American troops.

Thousands of US forces are deployed in southeastern Afghanistan.