Paktia: A second helicopter belonging to the US-led Nato coalition has crashed in Paktia Province in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 33 US forces on board.
Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mojahid claimed responsibility for the crash, which occured in Zarmat city on Monday, saying 33 American troops lost their lives in the downing.
Separately, another Nato chopper made a hard landing in the same area in eastern Paktia province late Sunday, Afghan witnesses and officials told media.
The US-led NATO forces have cordoned off the scene of the incident, witnesses said.
The incident has reportedly left some casualties, but there are no words yet on the exact number of the killed or injured.
The main cause of the incident is not clear yet.
Meanwhile, the US-led alliance issued a statement and confirmed that the helicopter made an emergency landing. The statement said no one was injured and that it has launched an investigation into the incident.
The incident came in the wake of a similar incident on Saturday, which claimed the lives of 31 US forces.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday helicopter crash, but NATO said it has started an investigation into the incident.
Meanwhile, at least another seven ISAF troops were killed over the weekend, four of whom in two separate attacks on Sunday, including two French legionnaires.
The spike in casualties – at least 383 foreign troops have been killed so far this year, almost 50 of them in the first week of August – comes at a time of growing unease about the increasingly unpopular and costly war.
US and Nato officials issued statements vowing to “stay the course” in Afghanistan after Friday’s Chinook, but the recent death toll will raise questions about how much longer foreign troops should stay in Afghanistan.
The deaths came barely two weeks after foreign troops began the first phase of a gradual process to hand security responsibility over to Afghan soldiers and police.
That process is due to end with the last foreign combat troops leaving at the end of 2014, but some US lawmakers are already questioning whether that timetable is fast enough.
Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, issued a statement on Sunday saying that enemies of Afghanistan, such as the Taliban and other insurgents, wanted to disrupt the transition process.
UN figures show that 1,462 Afghan civilians were killed in conflict-related incidents during the first six months of 2011, the deadliest period for civilians since the Taliban were toppled by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.
Foreign military deaths also hit record levels in 2010 with 711 killed.
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