 Chinook helicopters have been relied upon heavily to support the British forces in Afghanistan continuously since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001 ; Operation Snipe saw the helicopters used to assist the 1 @,@ 000 British Commandos sweeping a region of <unk> Afghanistan . Due to the threat of improvised explosive devices ( IEDs ) scattered throughout the terrain by insurgents , transport helicopters have become highly valued and demanded units in this style of warfare . By April 2006 six Chinooks had been deployed by C @-@ 17 transport planes to Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan , in support of Operation Herrick . Two RAF Chinooks were lost in August 2009 during combat operations with the Taliban , one of which was brought down by enemy fire , in spite of warnings months before of Taliban plans to attack the helicopters . 
