Taliban who shot down US helicopter killed

The Taliban insurgents who shot down a US helicopter in Afghanistan, leaving 30 American troops dead, have been hunted down and killed in an air strike, a US commander said yesterday.

General John Allen, the new chief of US-led forces in Afghanistan, said that “at approximately midnight on August 8, coalition forces killed the Taliban insurgents responsible for this attack” in a bombing raid by an F-16 fighter jet.

Insurgents had shot down a Chinook helicopter on Friday in the remote Tangi Valley in Wardak province, killing 30 American troops on board – including 25 elite special forces – in the deadliest incident of the war for Nato. General Allen called the downing of the chopper southwest of Kabul a “tragic incident” but portrayed the retaliatory strike against the insurgents as proof that the US would press ahead with the war.

“This does not ease our loss, but we must and we will continue to relentlessly pursue the enemy,” said Allen, speaking to reporters via video link from Kabul.

“We will face the obstacles ahead with a steadfast determination to prevail.”

The helicopter attack came amid waning public support for the war and growing anxiety in Congress about the cost of a conflict that has dragged on since 2001.

General Allen announced the air strike against the insurgents as the Pentagon faced criticism over how it has handled the crash.

The ceremony for the return of the remains of the fallen troops, which was attended by President Barack Obama and other top officials, was closed to the media and the names of those killed have not been released – in a break with Defence Department practice.

Describing the helicopter crash in detail for the first time, Allen said that the Chinook had been sent in as part of an operation targeting a Taliban leader.

“The intelligence that had been generated to this point led us to believe there was an enemy network in the Tangi Valley in the Wardak province, and the purpose of this mission was to go after the leadership of that network,” the general said.