US helicopter destroyed by hard landing in Afghanistan

A US military helicopter was destroyed when a fire broke out during a hard landing in southeast Afghanistan, but there were no casualties, the US military said on Thursday.

The twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook made the hard landing late Wednesday due to brown-out conditions as the crew attempted to land forces near the Pakistani border southwest of the town of Spin Boldak, a military statement said.

"A fire, which is believed to have started from the hard landing, destroyed the aircraft. No one was injured," the statement said.

There were six coalition and 25 Afghan troops on board the helicopter when the accident occurred.

The US-led coalition forces have lost at least a dozen helicopters in the country in their operations since late 2001.

Source: Xinhua