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2004-02-22
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Australian pilot killed in Taliban attack
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An Australian pilot has been killed in Afghanistan after a helicopter was shot down by Taliban fighters. The helicopter belonged to US construction company, the Louis Berger Group, and was forced down by gunfire about 60 kilometres from the southern city of Kandahar. Two passengers on the helicopter are believed to have been injured. Louis Berger Group vice-president Tom Nicastro says the Australian pilot was shot first. "One of two helicopters we have subcontracted for was downed taking off early this morning around Kandahar..." Mr Nicastro said. "The craft came down and other people were wounded."
The BBC reports that a military operation is under way in southern Afghanistan after the civilian helicopter came under fire. A security official in Kandahar says 500 Afghan soldiers along with American forces have surrounded the area and five suspects have been arrested. Louis Berger oversees reconstruction work on the main highway linking Kabul with Kandahar in the south. The route has been plagued by attacks and kidnappings claimed by members of the hardline Islamic Taliban militia ousted from power by US-led forces in late 2001 for sheltering the Al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden. The rebels claimed responsibility for Sundayâs attack, saying that people on board were spying on the Taliban and using the opening of a school as an excuse to fly over the area. Mullah Sabir Momin, Taliban deputy commander of operations for southern Afghanistan, said: "When the helicopter landed we fired on it with machine guns from two sides. I donât know how many casualties, but the attackers fled." 
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Posted by Dan Darling 2004-02-22 8:01:44 PM||
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Posted by Shipman 2004-2-22 8:58:40 PM||
2004-2-22 8:58:40 PM||
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