Nato helicopter crash kills 16 in Afghanistan Helicopters form the backbone of military transport in the country allowing Nato forces to avoid roads which are often targeted with mines, or which are impassable to large vehicles. Turkey has more than 1,800 soldiers serving in Afghanistan, most of them around the capital and it has had two soldiers killed during the decade-long Afghan campaign. Its mission is limited to patrols and its soldiers do not take part in combat operations. The crash comes after an American staff sergeant accused of shooting dead 16 Afghan villagers had not wanted to return to the frontline, his lawyer said. The 38-year-old father-of-two, from the Joint Base Lewis-McChord base in Washington, had been drinking with two other soldiers before wandering 500 yards from his base in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, and gunning down 16 villagers, the official said. The soldier was suffering from stress over a fourth deployment and was under pressure from his wife, it was claimed. His lawyer John Henry Browne said he had been reluctant to return to the frontline. He said soldiers in the suspect's camp had been very upset that somebody in their unit had their leg blown off the day before the rampage. Mr Browne said his client is highly decorated, had twice been injured during tours in Iraq and was reluctant to leave on his fourth deployment. But he denied reports suggesting that the soldier had alcohol or marital problems. Questions were raised earlier this week about the staff sergeant's mental stability after it emerged that he was suffering from a head trauma from a roadside bomb in Iraq and another injury to his leg, where surgeons had to remove part of his foot.