"Spanish troops die in Afghan crash"

[GreenPartyVoter]

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spain's defense minister says he has not yet ruled out hostile fire as the possible cause of a helicopter crash in Afghanistan that killed 17 Spanish soldiers.

"It could have been an accident or an attack," Jose Bono said, speaking to reporters at the Defense Ministry in downtown Madrid. "The causes have not been fully clarified."

Earlier Tuesday, Spanish officials confirmed the country's first troop fatalities in Afghanistan. The troops were serving under NATO command as part of a Spanish contingent of about 800 peacekeeping troops there.

A spokesman in the Spanish prime minister's office told CNN "a helicopter crashed" although he had no immediate further information on the circumstances of the accident, near the western Afghan city of Herat.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/08/16/afghan.crash/index.html

[GreenPartyVoter]

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