TALIBAN CLAIM SHOOTING DOWN AFGHAN HELICOPTER IN HELMAND PROVINCE

Tue 27 July 2021:

The Taliban claim to have shot down an Afghan military helicopter in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday.

“Near the center of Nad-e-Ali district in Helmand province an Afghan military helicopter was shot down by Taliban. We also occupied the center of Nad-e-Ali district and captured its police chief,” Mujahid wrote on Twitter.

Many Afghans were killed and injured in the attack, with weapons and ammunition seized, the Taliban added.

However, Pajhwok Afghan news reported citing military sources that the helicopter made an emergency hard landing in Helmand province for technical reasons following an operation against the Taliban.

No casualties were registered, according to the Afghan military. People aboard were safely evacuated and the helicopter was destroyed.

Afghanistan has experienced a surge in violence in recent weeks as the Taliban stepped up its offensive after international troops began withdrawing from the country in May. The troop withdrawal was one of the points of the agreement that the Taliban and the United States reached in Doha in February of last year.

-FILE PHOTO

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