Alliance Copter Crash Reportedly Kills 18
A Northern Alliance helicopter crashed in Afghanistan’s Takhar province, killing 18 people including two Pushtun commanders and the chief bodyguard of the alliance’s late military leader, a Pakistani news agency reported Sunday.
The Afghan Islamic Press cited Northern Alliance officials as saying the helicopter crashed Saturday night. The news agency gave no further details, and the report could not be independently confirmed.
The news agency said two well-known Pushtun commanders were killed: Arbab Mohammed Hashim and Mirza Ghulam Nasiri.
Also reportedly killed was Mohammed Mustafa, who was the commander of special guards for Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Northern Alliance military commander who was killed by two suicide bombers on Sept. 9, just two days before the terrorist attacks in the United States.
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