Five NATO service members were killed when a U.K. helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan Saturday. 

The helicopter, which was carrying soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), crashed because of technical issues, according to NATO-led coalition forces and the British Ministry of Defense. 

"ISAF is still in the process of reviewing the circumstances to determine more facts," ISAF said. It did not provide details of the soldiers' nationalities, according to Reuters. 

Dawakhan Minapal, a spokesman for Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa, confirmed that the crash occurred near Kandahar City. 

"Today at 11 a.m. (0630 GMT) an ISAF helicopter crashed due to technical problems in Takhteh Pol district. As a result five ISAF soldiers were killed," Minapal said.

The Ministry of Defense in London said the helicopter was British but also did not reveal the nationalities of the victims. 

"We can confirm that a U.K. helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan today," the ministry said in a statement. "The incident is under investigation, and it would be inappropriate to comment further until families have been notified."

Foreign forces casualties have fallen as of late as U.S.-led forces are beginning to end operations before the year-end deadline to exit Afghanistan. 

The U.S. has been in contention with President Hamid Karzai, who refused U.S. requests to sign a bilateral security agreement that would allow 8,000 American troops to stay in the country past the U.S. withdrawal date. 

However, the leading candidates who are set to replace Karzai said they will sign the agreement to allow some U.S. forces to stay in the country for Afghan-training and counterterrorism operations. 

Since the beginning of 2014, almost twice as many foreign civilians have been killed in attacks compared to foreign military troops. At least 24 civilians have been killed in attacks.