After Helicopter Crash, Taliban Capture Afghan Soldiers, Possibly US Military Personnel

The Taliban in Afghanistan reportedly captured 13 Afghan soldiers in Faryab province on the border of Turkmenistan Tuesday after a helicopter crash, Reuters reported. Three soldiers were killed in the crash, police said. The helicopter could have also been carrying U.S. military personnel.

Sayed Aqa Saqeb, police chief for the northern province of Faryab where the transport helicopter went down, told Reuters it was not clear why it crashed. "Now we're thinking of ways to rescue those captured by the Taliban," Saqeb said.

The helicopter was flying from Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province, to Faryab when it performed an emergency landing in Pushtun Kot district at around 3 p.m. local time, according to Afghan press reports. The Taliban claimed that it shot down the helicopter.

The State Department and Department of Defense could not be reached for comment about the reports of U.S. soldiers being among those captured by the Taliban Tuesday.

The Taliban has been waging an insurgency in the northern part of the country in recent months, making gains in Faryab.