The pilot, three crew members and five members of the Afghan special forces died in the crash.
Nine members of the Afghan security forces were killed on Wednesday evening when their helicopter crashed near the capital Kabul, the country’s defense minister said on Thursday.
The defense ministry announced that it was investigating the cause of the crash. A source in the Afghan air force told Reuters that the helicopter had been hit by a rocket while taking off.
The pilot, three members of the crew and five special forces were killed when the Mi-17 helicopter crashed in the Behsud district of Maidan Wardak, Afghan television network Tolo News reported.