US Loses 4 Helicopter Engines Worth $13 Million

KABUL, Afghanistan — Four U.S. military helicopter engines worth a combined $13.2 million are missing in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the American military said Wednesday.

The engines were being shipped over land from the main U.S. base at Bagram and were destined for Fort Bragg, N.C., where the 82nd Airborne is based, said U.S. spokeswoman Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green.

"The components went missing en route to port _ the exact location is undetermined," Nielson-Green said.

The parts went missing sometime before the 101st Airborne arrived to replace the 82nd in early April, she said. They were being shipped by a Pakistani trucking company.

Militants in both countries frequently target convoys of goods destined for NATO bases.

In March, nearly 40 trucks carrying fuel to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan were destroyed in two bomb attacks on the Pakistani border. The bombings wounded about 100 people.

Pakistan's top military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said the reports of the missing helicopter parts were under investigation, but he said that U.S. forces had not contacted Pakistan officials about the matter.

The U.S. is not disclosing what kind of engines they were to prevent any criminals or insurgents from getting additional information.

Comments

[wadenelson1]

Unlike the 17 tons of high explosives they left unguarded, I'm not too worried about this one.