LASHKAR GAH: Two military helicopters evacuating wounded soldiers from fighting in southern Afghanistan collided on Wednesday killing nine people on board, the government said. The crash happened as the helicopters were taking off in restive Helmand province, where clashes have erupted between Afghan forces and the Taliban, said provincial governor’s spokesman Omar Zawak. Afghanistan’s defence ministry said the collision was due to “technical issues”.

The incident followed heavy fighting in provincial capital Lashkar Gah, where Taliban militants launched a series of attacks on Sunday in an attempt to capture the city.

It prompted US forces to call in air strikes in an effort to defend Afghan troops. The clashes have triggered an exodus of 30,000 people, said Sayed Mohammad Ramin, director of the Helmand province refugees department.

“Some families are still living in the open in the streets in Lashkar Gah, we don’t have tents to give them,” he told AFP.—AFP