KABUL: An army helicopter crashed in southwestern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing 25 people on board, including a top commander and the head of the provincial council key in fighting off a Taliban attack in May, officials said.
Taliban insurgents fighting the Western-backed government said they shot it down. Two army helicopters were on their way from Farah province to neighbouring Herat when one lost control in low visibility and crashed into a mountain, Naser Mehri, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said.
Among the passengers were Nematullah Khalil, deputy army corps commander for the western region, and Farid Bakhtawar, the outspoken head of Farah´s provincial council. The other victims, apart from the crew, were soldiers and council members, Mehri said.
Bakhtawar was a major figure in battling the Taliban in the battle for the city of Farah which the militants besieged and threatened to take over in May. The Taliban are seeking to remove the government and re-impose strict Islamic law after their ouster by US-led forces in 2001.
An Afghan news website said women security officials were in the vehicle at the time of the attack. -- Reuters AFP adds: A suicide bomber targeting a bus carrying employees of Afghanistan´s biggest prison killed at least seven people on Wednesday, officials said, in the latest militant attack in the war-torn country.
Another eight were wounded in the blast at the entrance to the facility in Kabul, which police spokesman Basir Mujahid said hit a vehicle ferrying Pul-e-Charkhi prison staff. Among the casualties were police officers guarding the main gate and prison staff.
The attacker was on foot, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said. He struck as the bus was entering the jail in the east of the Afghan capital. The Islamic State group (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq propaganda agency, SITE Intelligence Group said. The attack comes days after a suicide bomber blew himself up near the entrance of Afghanistan´s Independent Election Commission in Kabul, killing at least one person and wounding six.
A senior Taliban leader said the group had requested the release of Abdul Ghani Baradar and several others at the meeting with Khalilzad. The group confirmed Wednesday it had appointed five former Guantanamo Bay detainees to its political office in Doha who have authority to "talk about peace".
