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Insurgent grenade causes NATO chopper blast

A rocket-propelled grenade caused an explosion aboard a NATO helicopter that killed one and wounded eight shortly after the aircraft landed in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday.
/ Source: NBC, msnbc.com and news services

A rocket-propelled grenade caused an explosion aboard a NATO helicopter that killed one and wounded eight shortly after the aircraft landed in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

The CH-47 Chinook helicopter "had just landed and was off-loading through the rear ramp when an insurgent RPG was fired into the cargo bay," ISAF said in a statement.

The blast, at an outpost in Kunar province, killed one Afghan interpreter and wounded seven ISAF troops and one Afghan Border Police officer. Twenty-six people had been on board the chopper.

NBC News reported that the Taliban claimed responsibility for the incident. The claim could not immediately be verified but the Taliban often say they are behind incidents which they have not caused.

A spokesman said earlier that medics transported the wounded to an ISAF medical facility for treatment. Afghan and coalition forces secured the site after the incident, ISAF said. 

Violence in Afghanistan has soared to its highest levels since the removal of the Taliban by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, despite the presence of nearly 150,000 foreign troops.

Aircraft crashes are not infrequent in Afghanistan, but explosions on board are extremely rare. The Taliban in the past have shot down helicopters of foreign forces in Afghanistan.

In October 2009, two helicopter crashes killed 11 U.S. soldiers and three U.S. civilians.