NATO says a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan has killed seven American service members and four Afghans.

The coalition said three Afghan soldiers and one Afghan civilian interpreter died when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter went down on Thursday.

Afghan authorities say the helicopter crashed in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province. The cause is under investigation, and NATO gave no other details.

The Taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter. The insurgent group has made similar claims in the past, but Afghan officials in Kandahar also said the aircraft had been shot down.

The helicopter went down near the border of Uruzgan province, a known insurgent stronghold and transit route.

In March, a NATO helicopter crashed into a house near the Afghan capital, killing 12 Turkish soldiers on board and at least four people on the ground.

And in August of last year, a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down by militants in Wardak province, killing 30 American service members, mostly elite Navy SEALs, as well as eight Afghans.

The deaths of seven Americans in Thursday's helicopter crash comes less than a week after six U.S. service members were killed by members of Afghan security forces or gunmen wearing their uniforms in two separate “green on blue” attacks.