KABUL (TIP): Five members of the NATO-led international force fighting in Afghanistan were killed in a helicopter crash in bad weather in the country’s south, the coalition and provincial authorities said. Police in the southern province of Kandahar said the helicopter had come down on Monday evening during a heavy rain storm in Daman district.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) does not release the nationality of casualties, but US, British and Australian soldiers operate in the south of Afghanistan, battling an Islamist insurgency. “The cause of the crash is under investigation. However, initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time,” ISAF said following the incident. Helicopter crashes are fairly frequent in Afghanistan, where the 100,000-strong international mission relies heavily on air transport.