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| 31 U.S. soldiers go down fighting Taliban |
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The Taliban claimed responsibility for the crash which came down late on Friday in the eastern province of Wardak, southwest of the capital Kabul. The Taliban said that they have brought the helicopter down with a rocket attack. It was the highest number of U.S. casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long occupation of the country. President Hamid Karzai sent his condolences to President Barack Obama, according to a statement issued by his office. “President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama.” “Also on board this chopper were seven members of the Afghan Forces who too were all killed in the crash,” it added, offering condolences to the families of the victims. Sources on the ground told Al Jazeera “that the helicopter was apparently taking off from a roof of a building during this operation when it then crashed,” said Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from Kabul. “It is looking like it is going to be one of the single largest losses of life for coalition forces in Afghanistan in the last 10 years,” Smith added. Investigation underway According to AP, NATO confirmed the overnight crash and said there “was enemy activity in the area.” But it said it was still investigating the cause. The alliance was conducting a recovery operation at the site, it said, without releasing details or a casualty figure. “We are aware of an incident involving a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Justin Brockhoff, a NATO spokesman. “We are in the process of accessing the facts.” The helicopter was a twin-rotor Chinook, which are used for transport, said an official at NATO headquarters in Brussels, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. “The joint forces [foreign and Afghan] conducted an operation against the Taliban in Sayd Abad district last night,” said Shahidullah Shahid, the provincial spokesman. “Eight insurgents were killed. A coalition helicopter that was firing on insurgents at the time crashed. “We're not sure if this happened due to insurgent fire or not but there were some casualties of foreign troops due to the crash.” Shahid said coalition and Afghan officials were investigating the crash site of the aircraft, a twin-rotor Chinook helicopter, on Saturday. Taliban claims responsibility In a written statement, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the group claimed responsibility for the crash. He said NATO had attacked a house in Sayd Abad where Taliban fighters were gathering on Friday. The Taliban then fired on NATO and brought down the helicopter, killing the crew, Mujahid said. “The Taliban are prone to making exaggerated claims,” our correspondent said, restating that the cause of the crash was still not known. Aircraft crashes are relatively frequent in Afghanistan, where insecurity and difficult terrain make air travel essential for coalition forces transporting troops and equipment. In June 2005, 16 U.S. troops were killed when their helicopter crashed in eastern Kunar province after apparently being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. There have been at least 17 coalition and Afghan aircraft crashes in Afghanistan this year.   Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
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