Thaloqan, Feb 23: A lone attacker sprayed a US company's helicopter with gunfire as it prepared to take off from a southern Afghan village, killing the Australian pilot and seriously wounding at least one American passenger.
Four foreigners and an Afghan interpreter had come in the helicopter to inspect the construction of a health clinic in the village of Thaloqan, about 60 kilometres southwest of the provincial capital, Kandahar.
The group was about to leave when a man armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle attacked the helicopter and then fled, said Khalid Pashtoon, spokesman for governor of Kandahar province.
The Australian pilot was killed and an American woman who was helping set up health clinics in the region was seriously wounded, a US Embassy spokesman told.
In Australia, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Monday that the pilot came from South Australia state, but declined to release his name or any other personal details until the man's relatives are informed of his death.
"It's very sad that he's gone,'' Downer said. "He was there to help the people of Afghanistan.''
After the shooting, about 100 US troops and 100 Afghan forces cordoned off the site as a US military helicopter hoisted the bullet-riddled helicopter away.
In a statement, the US military condemned the shooting as a "senseless and violent criminal attack,'' and urged tribal elders and other locals to hand over the assailant. Bureau Report