June 6th, 2012
10:10 AM ET

U.S. helicopter believed shot down in Afghanistan; 2 killed

[Updated at 10:23 a.m. ET] The U.S. believes one of its armed helicopters was shot down over Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing both crew members on board, a U.S. military official said.

"It is likely that the helo today was brought down due to enemy small arms and RPG fire," the official said. The chopper was a U.S. Army OH-58 Kiowa Warrior reconnaissance helicopter. It went down over Ghazni province.

In a statement, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the downing of the helicopter, saying a rocket was used.

"After the rocket hit it, the helicopter came down and took fire," said an e-mail sent by Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid.

 Post by: ,
Filed under: Afghanistan • Military
soundoff (148 Responses)
  1. Pat

    🙁

    June 6, 2012 at 10:37 am | Report abuse |
  2. Bill Duke

    Hopefully it crashed on a mosque full of nut jobs.

    June 6, 2012 at 10:40 am | Report abuse |
    • jorge washinsen

      If it crashed on a mosque ---

      June 6, 2012 at 1:31 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Duane

    Sadly this will happen. For every 1,000 we get on them they will get 1-2 of ours.

    June 6, 2012 at 10:40 am | Report abuse |
  4. Byron D

    Or maybe a STINGER type missile from Syria?

    June 6, 2012 at 10:44 am | Report abuse |
    • midogs2

      How would Syria have one of our Stinger missles, Byron?

      June 6, 2012 at 11:02 am | Report abuse |
    • thatrix

      How about a STINGER from the US.
      We supplied the Taliban with STINGERs to fight the Russians.
      Guess what? They still have them.

      June 6, 2012 at 11:04 am | Report abuse |
  5. Army Vet

    Black hawk down all over again. All I can say is that the people of that region better watch out. We will secure that chopper and claim our survivors/casualties and whoever gets in the way will face the wrath of hell.

    June 6, 2012 at 10:45 am | Report abuse |
  6. saywhat

    @ Army Vet
    The longest running war in our history. A needless waste of American blood and national treasure. No strategic goals from the beginning, no exit strategy in sight. An open ended misadventure.
    These latest casualties a reflection on the futility of it all.
    After making Pakistan, our sole ally in this war, pushing them into a corner, we are seeking exits thru the Central Republics. Sure hope that works.

    June 6, 2012 at 10:51 am | Report abuse |
    • Army Vet

      Agreed, but what does that have to do with the Soldiers in that chopper who are just following orders. No sympathy for them? They are there so you can voice your opinion, whatever it may be, in the medium of your choice. Address your concerns to your local senator/congressman but also say a little prayer for the men and women out there fighting for your freedom.

      June 6, 2012 at 10:54 am | Report abuse |
    • American Eagle

      @ArmyVet I feel terrible for all the dead on both sides from these wars however please pull your head out of the sand. They are not there so we can voice our opinion or to do so in the medium of our choice. These rights have not been under threat. Stop living in la la land and get back to the real world.

      June 6, 2012 at 11:03 am | Report abuse |
    • Vad

      @American Eagle – I am not so sure you are not the one who needs to pull their head out of someone else worse than the sand. I do seem to remember a terrorist organization based out of Afghanistan that stole a few planes and crashed them into a couple rather large buildings in a civilian population here in the good ol' USA. I also seem to remember statements like "you will fall to the forces of Islam" and "we destroyed these symbols of your financial might as a warning that your secular society will one day be ruled by shariah law." That seems to be a fairly clear threat to the freedoms most Americans still cherish.

      June 6, 2012 at 11:25 am | Report abuse |
  7. saywhat

    Pl read that as" after making Pakistan,our sole ally in this war a victim."

    June 6, 2012 at 10:53 am | Report abuse |
  8. Lest we forget some think this is a war

    Sorry for the loss, but what do we expect. We may be over there playing DoD gone mad, but to the Afghans this is a war and we are the invaders. The outcomes are real to them. For us, it is just a place for the DoD and nation builders to play ther trades at the taxpayers expense. That is the real crime.

    June 6, 2012 at 10:59 am | Report abuse |
  9. Bryan

    Most unnecessary death. can we just end this cherade and bring our troops home? We have no business being over there anymore and all that's going to happen is our dead citizens. BRING THEM HOME! END THE WAR! GARY JOHNSON 2012!

    June 6, 2012 at 11:00 am | Report abuse |
  10. Bryan

    Your words are deplorable, but what's sad is that i can understand where you are coming from. The West have been the ultimate aggressors and we need to stop, reflect and pull back. I hope our country can realize this and pull back before we actually do cross a dangerous line and collapse, or whatever. We are living in a very scary, tense and fragile age.

    June 6, 2012 at 11:02 am | Report abuse |
    • Smako

      A fight was going on and we got in the middle of it and we are getting beat by both sides now. We were not the initial aggressors, but by thinking we could take out the Arabs who think their prophet had a beard so the ones that think he didn't could restore government, we got the dirty end of the stick.

      June 6, 2012 at 12:35 pm | Report abuse |
    • Pepinium

      Bryan, we are aggressors in the same way the Orkin Man is an aggressor when he comes to your house to clean up the pests. Simply understand we are killing sub-humans who hate our way of life and would not hesitate to blow you and your wife and kids away if they had half a chance. Once you truly digest that you realize its just a matter of making room for real human beings.

      June 6, 2012 at 10:25 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Fckr.

    That wil be the last idiots wil get.

    June 6, 2012 at 11:02 am | Report abuse |
  12. Chad

    11 years in and the Taliban is still issuing press statements. Oh yeah, this is working.

    June 6, 2012 at 11:03 am | Report abuse |
    • sean

      have we been attacked again on our soil...NO! All you Ostrich that just want to put your head in the sand and pretend everything is ok are fools. I wonder what you would say if another plane or bomb killed your parents or child. The world is not lego land with happy smiling people everywhere.

      June 6, 2012 at 11:09 am | Report abuse |
  13. Jake2055

    R.I.P. Kiowa crew. We could have a 'blackened earth' policy to turn the area for 10 miles around any downed aircraft into blackened ruins with Hell-fire missiles and Napalm. Our enemies know that if we had a mindset like theirs, disregarding any civilians nearby that we would have such a policy. Right NOW we have the power to turn their ENTIRE COUNTRY into a radioactive wasteland! We use restraint for now but there may come a time when there is NO restraint. Until that day, our brave military will continue to be sacrificed.

    June 6, 2012 at 11:04 am | Report abuse |
  14. trublu

    hey Mr. Nice, hope your hiding in cave in Kundz, caz FBI will yank your sorry ars to Gitmo soon.

    June 6, 2012 at 11:05 am | Report abuse |
  15. doubledees

    The mid-east is a cesspool. Too many of our military were killed and will continue to be killed.........turn the mid-east into a parking lot already!!!

    June 6, 2012 at 11:06 am | Report abuse |
    • jorge washinsen

      Never have so many given so much for so little in value.

      June 6, 2012 at 1:32 pm | Report abuse |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
« Back to main