NATO chopper shot down in Afghanistan, four troops killed

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KABUL, June 9 (AFP): Militants shot down a NATO helicopter in southern Afghanistan Wednesday, killing four soldiers and bringing to 23 the number of foreign troops killed in escalating violence so far this week.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) helicopter came down in Helmand province, a stronghold of Taliban fighting to topple the Western-backed government and evict the 130,000 US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan.
"Four ISAF service members were killed in the crash," a military spokesman said. "The helicopter was brought down by hostile fire," he added.