By Elena Teslova</p> <p>MOSCOW (AA) – A Kazakh military helicopter crashed near the country’s southern border authorities announced on Wednesday.</p> <p>The Kazakh Defense Ministry said 13 people were on board the Mi-8 helicopter at the moment of the crash in country’s Kyzylorda region at 1735 GMT.</p> <p>"According to the preliminary data, there are casualties. The condition is being clarified," the ministry said in a statement</p> <p>The helicopter was returning from the military drill "Altyn Zhebe" where aircraft pilots were trained to operate in the dark and in difficult weather conditions, it said.</p> <p>Setting off the place of the incident, Defense Minister of Kazakhstan Nurlan Ermekbaev ordered a special investigative commission to look into the crash.</p> <p>The Defense and Interior ministries launched the investigation, the ministry said.

