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Small-arms fire downed Canadian helicopter: Forces
Bob Strong/Reuters
PICTURE: Canadian soldiers gather near a burning Canadian Forces CH-147 Chinook helicopter after it made a hard landing close to the village of Bazaar e Panjway, in the Panjway district west of Kandahar August 5, 2010.
A Canadian Forces Chinook helicopter was struck by small arms fire, forcing it to make an emergency landing Thursday in dangerous Panjwaii district, west of Kandahar City, Canadian Forces confirmed on Saturday.
The helicopter was carrying five crew members and 16 passengers. It caught fire after making what military officials termed a "hard landing," 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City.
Eight people aboard sustained minor injuries, but the exact nature of the injuries has still not been disclosed.
The Chinook caught fire and was destroyed after it landed.
"Although a helicopter has been lost, this incident highlights the skills of Canadian aircrews deployed in Afghanistan," Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance, Commander of Task Force Kandahar, said in a statement.
"The fact that no one was seriously harmed during the emergency landing speaks to the ability of our aircrews to perform under pressure."
Following the landing, a Taliban spokesman told reporters in Kandahar that the insurgent group downed the helicopter, and that there were casualties.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for an incident in 2007 the saw an American Chinook downed in Helmand province, a claim that was publicly dismissed by International Security Assistance Force.
In 2009, Canadian CH-147 helicopters — the type that went down Thursday — flew roughly 3,000 flying hours, transporting over 30,000 passengers and delivering over 1,000 metric tonnes of cargo, Canadian Forces said.
Canada's Chinooks in Kandahar ferry troops and supplies to volatile regions in the province and, like other low-flying aircraft, they can at times be exposed to enemy fire.