<

U.S. Offers Karzai Help; Helicopter Crashes
Tuesday, January 29, 2002
(9:13 AM ET)
By Christopher Wilson & John Fullerton
Reuters

Fourteen U.S. soldiers were injured and their transport helicopter suffered extensive damage when it crashed in eastern Afghanistan Monday, U.S. military officials said. The cause of the accident was under investigation.

WASHINGTON/KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Reuters
President Bush told visiting Afghan leader Hamid Karzai the United States will help train a new Afghan military but made clear he would not commit U.S. troops to peacekeeping.

A reminder of the dangers facing U.S. troops in Afghanistan came Tuesday when the U.S. military said one of its helicopters carrying 24 people crashed as it tried to land in rough terrain. Fourteen people were injured.

And Monday, six fighters loyal to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden were killed in a hail of bullets and grenades when Afghan troops, supported by U.S. forces, stormed a hospital in the southern city of Kandahar after a long standoff.

After months of intensive searching, the whereabouts of bin Laden, accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the United States that killed more than 3,000 people, remain unknown.

But America's CBS News said in a report Monday he underwent kidney dialysis in a Pakistani military hospital the day before the U.S. attacks.

In Washington, Bush told Karzai he would not commit troops to a peacekeeping force, instead helping a British-led force in Kabul with intelligence and logistics.

"Chairman Karzai, I reaffirm to you today that the United States will continue to be a friend to the Afghan people in the challenges that lie ahead," Bush said.

"We will also support programs to train new police officers and help to establish and train an Afghanistan national military. Better yet than peacekeepers -- which will be there for a while with our help -- let's have Afghanistan have her own military."
(More: iWon.com News Source)
2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

Funny. Wilson & Fullerton seem under the impression helicopters crash only in Afghanistan. I believe this is a worldwide danger.

Thankfully, no deaths are attributed in this report,
Dan