Helicopter crashes kill 14 Americans in Afghanistan... US engages in 'war games' for exit strategy

Helicopter crashes kill 14 Americans in Afghanistan

Hostile fire ruled out in one collision involving three civilians while US engages in 'war games' for exit strategy

Haroon Siddique and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Monday 26 October 2009 09.21 GMT

Fourteen Americans were killed today in a series of helicopter crashes in Afghanistan, the US military said.

Seven US troopers and three US civilians working for the government died when their helicopter went down in western Afghanistan, a US statement said. In the south of the country two US helicopters collided, killing four American troops and wounding two others.

US authorities have ruled out hostile fire in the collision but have not given a cause for the other crash. The Taliban said they shot down a helicopter in Badghis province in north-western Afghanistan but it was unclear if this was the same incident and the claim could not be verified.

The casualties came as the Washington Post reported that the US has been engaging in war games testing the various proposals presented to Barack Obama to end the eight-year war.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/26/afghanistan-us-deaths-war-games