Chopper crash kills two Brits in Kabul

A helicopter crash in Kabul has killed five coalition military personnel and the Royal Air Force has confirmed two of the victims were British.

Two British Royal Air Force personnel have died in a helicopter crash which has killed five mission personnel in "a non-hostile incident" in Afghanistan.

The British defence ministry said the helicopter crashed on Sunday while landing at the headquarters of the Resolute Support international NATO coalition in the Afghan capital Kabul.

"The incident is currently under investigation but we can confirm that it was an accident and not the result of insurgent activity," the defence ministry said in a statement.

Those killed were from the 230 and 33 Squadrons of the Royal Air Force, the statement added.

The deaths bring to 456 the total number of British forces, personnel and defence ministry civilians killed serving in Afghanistan since Britain joined a US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001.

In a separate incident earlier on Sunday, a British forces convoy was attacked in central Kabul, wounding civilians but causing no British casualties.

Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks as Western-trained Afghan forces have largely been fighting on their own since NATO's combat mission ended in December.