Seventeen Spanish soldiers died in Afghanistan when their helicopter crashed on Tuesday, Spain's Ministry of Defense said.

It is not yet clear why the helicopter crashed, but there were no survivors, the ministry said.

According to preliminary information, the helicopter crashed near Herat, western Afghanistan, in an area controlled by the Spanish contingent made up of about 850 soldiers.

Most of the soldiers on board belonged to the Airborne Light Brigade, whose last battalion, 85-strong, left Santiago de Compostela last Aug. 12 for Afghanistan.

The Spanish military mission is to guarantee security during the next Afghan parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 18.

The Spanish troops are part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, deployed under an UN mandate and made up of around 10,000 troops from 37 countries.

(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2005)