The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Kabul

A helicopter from the U.S.-led forces was shot down south of the Afghan capital Wednesday, but the crew escaped without serious injury, the coalition said.

In the south, a suicide car bomber targeted a NATO patrol near the Pakistani border, wounding several Afghans, the alliance said. Small-arms fire downed the UH-60 Black Hawk in Kherwar district of Logar province. The pilots were able to land the aircraft and evacuate everyone on board before it caught fire, a statement said. Logar police chief Mohammed Mustafa Khan said reports from his officers in the remote district suggested Taliban militants shot down the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. The coalition said another helicopter returned later and destroyed the wreckage with precision fire. Helicopter crashes have been among the deadliest incidents for international troops in Afghanistan.

Most recently, seven soldiers died when a Chinook helicopter was shot down during an air assault in the southern province of Helmand in May 2007.