NATO in Afghanistan said Sunday it was probing the Taliban’s claim that they shot down a helicopter, killing 30 American troops, including special forces
NATO in Afghanistan said Sunday it was probing the Taliban's claim that they shot down a helicopter, killing 30 American troops, including special forces.
Seven Afghan commandos and an interpreter were also among the dead when the Chinook helicopter plummeted after a firefight with the insurgents late Friday in Wardak province, southwest of the capital Kabul.
The crash site had been sealed off by Sunday, with reports that fighting was still going on in the area where a rocket propelled grenade is thought to have downed the aircraft.
The incident was the biggest single loss of life for foreign occupation forces since 2001.
A witness said the crash followed a raid on a Taliban commander's home. "Afghan and foreign troops are still in the area," provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told AFP on Sunday. ““The phones are not working in the area," he said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and local and Afghan army authorities said an insurgent rocket had brought the chopper down.
The NATO-led ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) mission in the troubled country, confirmed an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the deadly crash.
US President Barack Obama paid tribute to those who died and said the incident was a reminder of the "extraordinary sacrifices" made by the men and women of the military and their families.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed the US would "stay the course" in Afghanistan despite the latest loss.
US television networks reported that 25 of the dead in Friday's attack were US Navy SEALs. Sources in the Obama administration told AFP that those killed came from the army, navy and air force, without saying if they were SEALs.
Contrary to several US media reports, the dead were not part of the special forces team that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid in Pakistan in May, the sources said.
