16 killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 19 (UPI) -- Sixteen people were killed Sunday in the crash of a U.S. civilian helicopter in Afghanistan, and a second copter made an emergency landing, officials said.

A statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force said the fatal crash happened at Kandahar airfield in southern Afghanistan, indicating that while the cause was unknown, it wasn't shot down, CNN reported.

The other helicopter incident Sunday involved a military aircraft making a hard landing elsewhere in the Afghanistan, apparently injuring at least some of those on board, CNN reported.

Last Tuesday, at least six civilians flying aboard a private helicopter died in a crash in southern Afghanistan. At the time, witnesses said that aircraft was shot down by insurgents.

On Saturday, two U.S. jet fighter pilots were killed in an apparent accidental crash of their aircraft in Afghanistan.