Three DEA agents among dead in Afghanistan chopper crashes

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Fourteen Americans died in two helicopter crashes in Afghanistan on Monday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said: 10 in one incident and four in the other.

Three Drug Enforcement Administration special agents were among the dead, according to the DEA, which did not identify them.
The agents were first DEA agents to be killed in Afghanistan.

"Like all those who give their lives in service to America, they were doing their duty, and they were doing this nation proud," President Obama said at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida.

"Now, it is our duty, as a nation, to keep their memory alive in our hearts and to carry on their work, to take care of their families, to keep our country safe," Obama said.

It was the largest number of Americans killed in Afghanistan in a single day in more than four years, according to CNN records.
The NATO force ruled out enemy fire in the crash that killed four Americans and said enemy action was not thought to be the cause of the other.

A helicopter went down in the west of the country after a raid on suspected drug traffickers. Seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians were killed, according to an ISAF statement. Fourteen Afghan service members, 11 U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian were injured in the crash.

Monday's crash marked the second-deadliest incident in the agency's 36-year history, according to entries on the DEA's Web site.

The deadliest incident for the DEA occurred August 27, 1994, when a plane carrying five special agents crashed in the Peruvian Andes during a reconnaissance mission, according to the DEA's Web site.

One of Monday's helicopter crashes occurred after the helicopter was returning from a raid on a compound, ISAF said.

The joint international security force killed more than a dozen enemy fighters while searching the compound, ISAF said. The site was thought to harbor insurgents tied to narcotics trafficking in western Afghanistan.

The militants were killed in a firefight when insurgents confronted the joint force.
As the force was leaving, a helicopter "went down due to unconfirmed reasons," ISAF said. A recovery operation was launched.

DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart said the crash occurred as the agents and seven U.S. service members were returning "from a completed, joint counternarcotics mission."

"DEA is an extremely tight family, and the death of these three brave agents is a devastating loss for us," she said in a written statement.
Attorney General Eric Holder said the circumstances of the crash were under investigation.

"I want to express my deepest condolences to the families of these heroic agents," Holder said in a written statement.

"During this difficult time, the families of these agents are foremost in our thoughts and prayers."

In Monday's other deadly crash, four U.S. service members were killed when two helicopters apparently collided in the air in southern Afghanistan. Two other NATO service members were injured.


"The incident is currently being investigated, but it is confirmed that hostile fire was not involved," ISAF said.

"Each and every death is a tremendous loss for the family and friends of each service member and civilian. Our grief is compounded when we have such a significant loss on one day," Col. Wayne Shanks, an ISAF spokesman, said in a written statement.

ISAF is not announcing the names of the dead or which branch of the service they were in, pending the notification of their relatives.

The DEA has had a presence in Afghanistan for four years. The agency said Monday that it is increasing its presence in Kabul to up to about 50 agents.

Death Toll Rises in Baghdad Bombings

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- The death toll from twin car bombings in Baghdad climbed to 160, with hundreds more wounded in the deadliest attack in the capital in more than two years, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

At least 540 people were wounded in Sunday's attacks.
One of the bombs exploded outside Baghdad's governorate building, the other outside the justice ministry. The bombs detonated in quick succession about 10:30 a.m., officials said.

Among the wounded were three American security contractors, the U.S. Embassy said, declining to provide further details. The area struck is close to the heavily guarded "green zone," which houses the embassy.

The blasts sparked questions about Iraq's security and national elections planned for January.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who visited the scene shortly after the explosions, said holding the elections as scheduled would send a strong message to the attackers.

"The cowardly attack ... should not affect the determination of the Iraqi people from continuing their battle against the deposed regime and the gangs of criminal Baath party, and the terrorist al Qaeda organization,'" al-Maliki said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama called the attacks an attempt to derail progress in Iraq, and pledged to work closely with the country as it prepares for elections. Obama spoke with the prime minister and President Jalal Talabani to express his condolences and reiterate U.S. support.

In August, more than 100 people were killed in a series of bombings that led to tightened security in Baghdad. Blast walls were installed across the city and checkpoints added.

Two years earlier, three truck bombings had killed hundreds in Qahtaniya, in northern Iraq. Sunday's attacks were the deadliest on Iraqi civilians since the blasts in August 2007.
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Mig 27 crashes in India

NEW DELHI, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - An Indian Air Force (IAF) MIG-27 Flogger ground support aircraft crashed Friday in northeast India, the country's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The aircraft was on a routine training flight when it went down near the Hashimara Air Force Station in the state of West Bengal.

The pilot ejected safely and there were no casualties on the ground. An inquiry has been ordered to investigate the causes of the accident, the ministry said.

The incident is the second MiG-27 crash and the ninth IAF aircraft accident this year. Another MiG-27 crashed in northwest India in May, injuring seven people on the ground.

The MiG-27 aircraft was originally built in the former Soviet Union in the mid-1970s before it was licensed to be produced in India.

Known as the Bahadhur (Brave) in the IAF, the MiG-27s form eight operational squadrons.

According to the military, the current upgrade program will keep the MiG-27 operational for another 10 years.

Black Hawk Helicopter Crashes on Navy ship

1 dead, 8 injured in helicopter crash on Navy ship

NORFOLK, Va. — An Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed on a Navy ship during training, killing one service member and injuring eight, the Navy said.

Service members were rappelling down a rope from the helicopter to the USNS Arctic around 8 p.m. Thursday off the Virginia coast near Fort Story when the crash happened, Navy spokeswoman Lt. J. G. Megan Issac said.

The helicopter crashed into the ship's stern and ended up on its side, Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby, commander of the Military Sealift Command, said at a news conference Friday morning at Naval Station Norfolk. A small fire on the ship's deck was quickly extinguished.

The cause of the crash was being investigated.

A second helicopter took the injured people to a hospital for treatment. None had life threatening injuries, Issac said.

Names of the dead and injured and their service affiliations were not immediately released.

"We deeply regret that it occurred, but unfortunately, it is part of the business we do at sea," Buzby said.

Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Phil Rosi said the training exercise involved the two Army helicopters and members of a Naval Special Warfare unit.

"It was a routine visit, board, search and seizure exercise that takes place between Army and Navy units on a fairly regular basis," Buzby said, adding that ships like the Arctic are used because they are similar to merchant ships.

The exercise trains the service members on how to quickly board a ship that might be threatened by pirates or terrorists, for instance, Buzby said.

The Arctic has returned to Naval Station Norfolk, and the damaged helicopter remained aboard the ship.

The Arctic was damaged and will be repaired quickly. Its deck had superficial damage where the helicopter landed, but the ship's propulsion was not affected.

Officials said the Arctic has no official home port but frequents naval stations in Norfolk and Earle, N.J.


The Associated Press

F-16s were "prepared" to shoot down Northwest Airlines Flight

Armed F-16s from the Wisconsin Air National Guard were on the runway and "prepared" to shoot down the errant Northwest flight if the order had come, a NORAD spokesperson, Mike Kucharek told ABCNews.com.

Air traffic controllers feared Northwest Flight 188, from San Diego to Minneapolis, might have been hijacked after its pilots failed to respond to radio transmissions for more than an hour. NORAD ordered at least two planes scrambled at the guard facility in Madison, Wisconsin.

The NORAD spokesman said the F-16s, normally armed with 500 rounds of air cannon bullets and six air-to-air missiles, were on the runway when the alert was canceled once the pilots finally made contact with FAA controllers.

Air traffic controllers reported the pilots initially failed to respond to commands as it passed from the air space controlled by the FAA Denver Center into the area controlled by the Minneapolis Center.

The concern grew as the pilots ignored a command from the Minneapolis approach controllers to begin a descent for landing.

The National Counterterrorism Center in Washington was notified, and authorities began to scrutinize the passenger list, according to Pierre Thomas and Jason Ryan of ABC News.

Once contact was re-established, after an hour and 18 minutes of silence, the controllers ordered the pilots to carry out a series of zigzag maneuvers in order to prove "the pilots had command and control of the craft," according to people briefed on the incident.
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