DEA personnel among 14 dead in Afghan copter crash

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Three Drug Enforcement Administration personnel were among 14 Americans killed when three helicopters went down in Afghanistan on Monday, a law enforcement source said.

The joint international security force killed more than a dozen enemy fighters while searching the compound, ISAF said. The site was thought to harbor insurgents tied to narcotics trafficking in western Afghanistan. The militants were killed in a firefight when insurgents confronted the joint force. As the force was leaving, a helicopter “went down due to unconfirmed reasons,” ISAF said. A recovery operation was launched. In Monday’s other deadly crash, four U.S. service members were killed when two helicopters apparently collided in the air in southern Afghanistan. Two other NATO service members were injured. “The incident is currently being investigated, but it is confirmed that hostile fire was not involved,” ISAF said in an earlier news release. “Each and every death is a tremendous loss for the family and friends of each service member and civilian. Our grief is compounded when we have such a significant loss on one day,” Col. Wayne Shanks, an ISAF spokesman, said in a written statement. ISAF is not announcing the names of the dead or which branch of the service they were in, pending the notification of their relatives, ISAF told CNN via e-mail.CNN senior producer Carol Cratty in Washington contributed to this report.