U.S. soldiers stand near the wreckage of an Army UH-60 'Black Hawk' helicopter that crashed east of Bagram Air Base

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, January 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Four U.S. soldiers were killed when their Blackhawk helicopter crashed during a night training mission in Afghanistan, the US military said Friday, January 31, as investigations got underway.

U.S. military spokesman Colonel Roger King said the accidental crash occurred just 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from Bagram, north of Kabul, the main U.S. air base in Afghanistan, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

"Four U.S. soldiers died last night when an MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed during a routine training mission," King told reporters at Bagram.

He said the accident happened around 7:30 pm (1500 GMT).

‘No Hostile Fire’

"There was no indication of hostile fire," said, adding the names of the victims would be released by Washington once the next of kin had been informed.

King said an unsuccessful attempt was made to rescue the helicopter crew.

"There was a medivac (medical evacuation) operation conducted without success. Attempts were made to save lives, they weren't successful."

The deaths bring to 47 the number of U.S. troops killed in accidents and combat since the campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda began in October 2001, AFP said.

Military air accident investigators were Friday examining the overturned wreck of the aircraft, which hit the ground in a barren open plain littered with debris from Afghanistan's years of conflict.

The crash, which killed the aircraft's entire crew, marked one of the darkest days for U.S. operations in Afghanistan.

There has been no multiple U.S. fatalities since the March 2002 Operation Anaconda offensive in the eastern province of Gardez when eight U.S. troops were killed, AFP said.

King said the apparent accident brought to 22 the number of U.S. military personnel killed accidentally in Afghanistan since operations began here 15 months ago.

Some 25 personnel have been killed in hostile action.

King said the helicopter went down east of Bagram in an area where flight training regularly takes place and was not close to the scene of recent attacks on Bagram.

"It was in the vicinity of a range where they do aerial gunnery and they were out there on a training mission. This was not an area where they sporadically receive rocket fire."

King said the helicopter's mission was not linked to a major offensive, dubbed Operation Mongoose, in southeastern Afghanistan to hunt for rebel fighters in a cave complex where 18 Afghanis died in fighting this week.

He said it was too early to speculate on the cause of the crash, but spoke of the difficulties faced by helicopter pilots in Afghanistan's rugged, dusty landscape.

"Afghanistan is a difficult place to fly. There are a lot of weather concerns, there is a lot of relief to the terrain. High altitude is probably not the forte of helicopter operations."

He said there were no extra concerns created by night flying, for which MH-60 helicopters and their crew are usually well-equipped.

Lieutenant General Paul Hester, commander of the air force's special operations command, told reporters in Washington earlier that there were few places in the world where U.S. crews can train for the difficult conditions encountered in Afghanistan.

Sand fine as talcum powder sticks to instruments, blades and engines, and creates dust clouds that can make landings hazardous.

"Instead of entering a cloud at 20 to 30 feet (seven to 10 metres), there have been times with the talcum powder effect that we've entered a dust cloud at 80 or 100 feet," he said.

At least nine helicopters have crashed or crash landed since the start of a U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan October 7.

In the most recent, seven German soldiers serving with the International Security Assistance Force were killed on December 21 when their CH-53 crashed during a routine reconnaissance flight over Kabul.

King said the accident would overshadow events at Bagram, but operations would continue as normal.

"Any time you have an incident like this that causes a loss of life, there is a sobering effect on people who take part in flight operations or any kind of operations," he said.