Aircrash kills 3 NATO soldiers in S Afghanistan

KABUL, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Three soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed in an aircraft incident Monday in southern Afghanistan, said a statement of the alliance issued on Tuesday.

"Our hearts are with the loved ones of the three ISAF service personnel that were killed in this tragic incident involving an ISAF helicopter," said Brigadier-General Eric Tremblay, an ISAF Spokesperson.

However, it did not disclose the exact location of the incident or the nationality of any casualty in light of ISAF policy.

Meantime, Brig Gen Jonathan Vance, a Canadian military official in south region, according to media report, confirmed that two Canadian and one U.S. soldier were killed in the helicopter crash possibly caused by mechanical failure in Zabul province.

Vance rejected any insurgents' involvement in the crash, adding either mechanical failure or human error.

Nevertheless, a purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed the outfit shot down the helicopter in Zabul on Monday.

Conflicts and violence have claimed 171 foreign soldiers so far this year in Afghanistan.

A massive operation against Taliban militants, jointly launched by U.S. Marine and Afghan security forces, is going on in the restive Helmand province while the rebels, in response, intensified assault in other parts of the countries, mostly in the shape of roadside and suicide bombings.