Afghanistan crash kills 5

KABUL, Afghanistan — Five U.S. soldiers were killed and seven were injured when their helicopter crashed Sunday near the American military headquarters north of the Afghan capital, U.S. Central Command said.

The soldiers were involved in an ongoing U.S. military operation, dubbed Mountain Resolve, taking place in the east of the country, the military said.

It was not clear what caused the crash, and the military said it was investigating.

Bagram Air Base, just north of the capital, is home to most of the 11,600 coalition forces in Afghanistan. An additional 5,000 international peacekeepers patrol Kabul.

Mountain Resolve has been going on since Nov. 7 in eastern Nuristan and Kunar provinces, but so far no major skirmishes with suspected Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts have taken place.

Also Sunday, a coalition vehicle struck a land mine while patrolling in the Paktika province, an area of Afghanistan near the Pakistani border, seriously wounding two American soldiers, including one who lost one of his legs.

The wounded soldiers received initial medical treatment at the scene, then were evacuated by air to a medical facility at nearby Salerno base in the city of Khost, the statement said. The men were Staff Sgt. Roy Mitchell, of Batesville, Ind., and Sgt. 1st Class Michael Eichner, of Stonington, Penn., officials at Fort Drum in New York state said.

Mitchell, 32, suffered burns to his face, neck and back, and had his left leg amputated. Eichner, 31, was wounded by shrapnel in his back and had a broken hand, the officials said. The soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment.

About 35 Americans have died from hostile fire in Afghanistan since the October 2001 start of the Afghan war, according to the U.S. military.