Afghan War Briefing:US Helicopter Crashes;Australian Troops Withdraw

A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed about 4pm Tuesday local time in Zabul Province,Afghanistan,killing six US troops and injuring the sole survivor,defence and local officials said.Preliminary indications are that the chopper experienced mechanical difficulties before crashing.*
The Shojae District of Zabul is mountainous,forested,and frequented by the enemy,according to Ghulam Jilani Khan,Provincial Security Chief.The survivor was rescued by a US/Afghan quick reaction force.Taliban militants claimed responsibility for the crash,as is their custom regardless of the facts.Although they have brought down some US helicopters,the main cause of such mishaps throughout the Afghan War has overwhemingly been mechanical or weather-related.The crash is under investigation,and brings the ISAF death toll for 2013 to 139,including 109 US soldiers.Last year,the toll was 394,and 297 of them were American.The improvement is because ISAF turned over security operations to Afghan forces last summer,with coalition troops assuming an advise and assist role.*
Meanwhile,Australia has withdrawn its last combat troops from the ISAF Tarin Kowt Base,their headquarters in Uruzgan Province,where they were providing security training to an Afghan National Army brigade and police.Australia was the leading contributor of non-NATO forces to the war effort,sending about 1550 troops to the conflict,40 of whom were killed.About 400 Australian soldiers will remain through 2014 as trainers in Kabul and Kandahar.*
About 43,000 American troops remain in Afghanistan.They are to withdraw by the end of 2014.According to a deal approved by the Afghan national council,the Loya Jirga,10,000 US soldiers will remain for 10 years after that in an advisory and special operations role.Afgahnistan's mercurial President Hamid Karzai is refusing to sign the pact because he says the US is applying "colonial pressure" to him.He wants his successor,who is to be elected in April 2014,to sign the pact.
Nonetheless,Ambassador James Dobbins,US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan,said the US is nowhere near deciding to withdraw completely.Afghan Defence Minister Bismillan Khan assured Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on 7 December that the deal will be signed in a timely manner.