A helicopter crashed into a house on the outskirts of the Afghan capital Kabul, killing 12 Turkish soldiers on board.

The crash came amid growing unease among NATO partner countries about the increasingly unpopular and costly war as most foreign combat troops are set to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

One local resident Asadullah Khan explained in Pushto how local people who were watching the crash were injured.

"Because of this helicopter crashing into this house, a number of people who were watching the incident were wounded, including women and children and were taken to the hospital and also two people in this house suffered from burns."

Unlike other European members of the NATO-led coalition, Turkey's mission is limited to patrols and its soldiers do not take part in combat operations. It is believed that the crash was due to technical failure.