Helicopter crash in Afghanistan kills three

Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan: A helicopter crash in northern Afghanistan on Sunday killed at least three people including a foreign pilot, Afghan officials said.

The aircraft crashed due to "technical problems" shortly after taking off in Dehdadi district in Balkh province, Nazer Khuda Pamiri, deputy commander of Afghan forces in northern Afghanistan, told AFP.

Ten people were on board the helicopter at the time of the accident.

It was transporting Afghan security forces from a military base in Dehdadi to the volatile northwestern province of Faryab.

"Three people were killed and seven others were wounded," Pamiri said.

"The dead include two Afghan security forces and one foreign pilot" who may have been Russian.

The helicopter caught fire after it hit the ground, Pamiri added.

Defence ministry deputy spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said the helicopter belonged to a private company and had been hired by the ministry.