Politics & Government

Update: Report – Navy SEALs Among Those Lost in Afghanistan Crash

Two SEALs and one Navy explosive expert are among those killed in helicopter shot down by insurgents Thursday.

Update 3:40 p.m. Thursday, adding NATO comment regarding the claim the helicopter was shot down.

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The servicemen killed in Afghanistan Thursday include two Navy SEALs and a Navy explosives expert, according to reports. 

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The Associated Press, citing unnamed U.S. officials, said the three were among seven Americans who died when insurgents opened fire on a UT-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Eleven people died in total.

The Taliban took credit for shooting the copter down near Kandahar. NATO aid the crash remains under investigation, according to AP. Other officials said signs do not indicate the craft was shot down.

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According to navy.mil, the UH-60 Black Hawk first was used by the Army, before the Navy began flying it in 1983.  The helicopter's costs range from $5.9 million to $10.2 million.

A crash in Afghanistan, also caused by insurgents, .

Time magazine recently honored their memories, when a writer recalled interviews with some of the dead just before they shipped out for the fatal mission.

Coronado saluted  in the 2011 crash when their remains were taken in a procession from North Island Naval Air Station to San Diego.


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