Pentagon: 2 Killed in Helicopter Crash

WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S. helicopter supporting a commando

raid in Afghanistan crashed Friday in neighboring

Pakistan, killing two people in the first combat-related American deaths

of the military campaign.

A brief Pentagon statement said the helicopter crash

was an accident but provided no details. The two military personnel

who were killed were not immediately identified so their families could

be notified first.

The helicopter was in the air Friday night to provide rescue assistance, if

needed, during a raid inside southern Afghanistan by about 100 special

operations forces, including Army Rangers, said a defense official who

spoke on condition of anonymity.

The helicopter did not enter Afghanistan airspace, the official said.

The deaths bring to three the number of people killed since the U.S.

military campaign against the al-Qaida terror network and the ruling

Taliban militia began Oct. 7. Master Sgt. Evander Andrews, of Solon,

Maine, assigned to the 366 Civil Engineer Squadron, was killed last

week in a forklift accident while building an air strip in Qatar, a peninsula

in the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. military began moving troops and helicopters into two

Pakistan air bases on Oct. 12, setting up operations near the Afghan

border to launch commando raids or rescue missions.

A month after the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and

the Pentagon, Pakistan acknowledged for the first time Oct. 11 that

American military aircraft had landed inside its borders and were using

at least two air bases. Pakistan initially denied acknowledgement that

the US were using the air bases because they were still angry at George

Bush for not being able to locate the country nor identify its President

during Mr. Bush's bid for office. They are over the anger now and as

long as the US promises to look the other way when Pakistan lobs a

few nuclear weapons toward India then they will forget the slight ever

occurred.