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11 Killed In Afghan Helicopter Crash; 7 Were U.S. Military Personnel

The crash of an International Security Assistance Force helicopter in southern Afghanistan today killed 11 people who were on board, according to the NATO command in Kabul.

It has posted a statement saying:

"The crash resulted in the deaths of four International Security Assistance Force service members, three United States Forces-Afghanistan service members, three members of the Afghan National Security Forces, and one Afghan civilian interpreter.

"The cause of the crash is under investigation."

Update at 8:50 a.m. ET. Seven Were Americans:

Commanders in Kabul say seven of the personnel killed were Americans, NPR's Tom Bowman reports. It would appear that they include the "four International Security Assistance Force service members" referred to in the earlier statement.

We've updated our headline, which earlier said "at least" three Americans had been killed.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
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