A NATO helicopter crashed in central Afghanistan overnight killing 31 U.S. soldiers and 7 Afghan troops, the Afghan president said Saturday, a devastating death toll and easily the worst single incident for foreign troops in 10 years of war.
A brief statement from the presidential palace said the helicopter had crashed in central Maidan Wardak province, just to the west of the capital, Kabul, and identified the Americans as special forces troops.Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Wardak provincial administration, Shahidullah Shahid, told Xinhua that a NATO helicopter crashed in Syed Abad district during a military operation Friday night.
On the other hand, Taliban outfit, according to local media, claimed responsibility, saying a helicopter was shot down by militants, leaving several people aboard dead.
The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since the militant group announced spring offensive from May 1 against Afghan and NATO-led troops stationed in Afghanistan.Mujahid said the Taliban fired on NATO and downed the helicopter, killing all the crew. He said eight insurgents also died.in June 2005, 16 American troops were killed when a U.S. helicopter crashed in eastern Kunar province after apparently being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, an official said it was a twin-rotor Chinook helicopter. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was receiving his information from an Afghan officer in Kabul.
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