Pentagon: 2 Killed in Pakistan Crash

Friday October 19 10:57 PM ET
Pentagon: 2 Killed in Pakistan Crash

WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S. helicopter supporting a commando raid in Afghanistan (news - web sites) crashed Friday in neighboring Pakistan, killing two people in the first combat-related American deaths of the military campaign.

A brief Pentagon (news - web sites) statement said the helicopter crash was an accident but provided no details. The two military personnel who were killed were not immediately identified so their families could be notified first.

The helicopter was in the air Friday night to provide rescue assistance, if needed, during a raid inside southern Afghanistan by about 100 special operations forces, including Army Rangers, said a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The helicopter did not enter Afghanistan airspace, the official said.

The deaths bring to three the number of people killed since the U.S. military campaign against the al-Qaida terror network and the ruling Taliban militia began Oct. 7. Master Sgt. Evander Andrews, of Solon, Maine, assigned to the 366 Civil Engineer Squadron, was killed last week in a forklift accident while building an air strip in Qatar, a peninsula in the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. military began moving troops and helicopters into two Pakistan air bases on Oct. 12, setting up operations near the Afghan border to launch commando raids or rescue missions.

A month after the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Pakistan acknowledged for the first time Oct. 11 that American military aircraft had landed inside its borders and were using at least two air bases.

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