2 US Service Members Killed in Afghanistan Chopper Crash

Two US service members were killed on Wednesday when their helicopter crashed in Afghanistan, the US military said. The statement said the cause of the crash is under investigation but that preliminary reports do not indicate it was caused by enemy fire. However, the Taliban promptly claimed to have shot down the helicopter in eastern Logar province, causing many fatalities. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement to media that the insurgents downed a US Chinook helicopter at around 1am during fighting with the “invaders and their hirelings," the AP reports. The US military dismissed the Taliban claim as false. Wednesday’s crash brought the number of American deaths in Afghanistan this year to 19. (More Afghanistan stories.)