Taliban linked to helicopter crash (IHT/AP/Reuters)

Taliban linked to helicopter crash

The Associated Press, Reuters

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2005
KABUL A U.S. Chinook helicopter that crashed in eastern Afghanistan was probably shot down by hostile fire, and the fate of 17 American service members aboard was unclear, the U.S. military said Wednesday. The twin-engine CH-47 Chinook went down Tuesday the mountains west of Asadabad in Kunar Province, which borders Pakistan. Search and rescue teams sealed off the crash site, the U.S. military said.

Asadullah Wafa, an Afghan provincial governor, said that the Taliban had shot down the Chinook with a rocket. He gave no other details. Before the United States announced the incident, Mullah Latif Hakimi, who claimed to be a Taliban spokesman, called The Associated Press and said that the Taliban had shot down the helicopter and that the attack had been filmed. The video would be released to the media, he said. He also said that rebels had killed seven other U.S. soldiers in an attack in the same area.

Lieutenant Cindy Moore, a U.S. spokeswoman, said no such attack had been reported. The Chinook was transporting troops as part of Operation Red Wing, an attempt to flush out Qaeda fighters in the area, when the incident occurred, the U.S. military said.

"Initial reports indicate the crash may have been caused by hostile fire," a U.S. military statement said. "The status of the service members is unknown at this time." U.S. and Afghan troops "quickly moved into position around the crash to block any enemy movement toward or away from the site" and support aircraft were overhead, the statement said. This was the second Chinook helicopter lost in Afghanistan this year. On April 6, 15 U.S. service members and three American civilians were killed when their chopper went down in a sandstorm while returning to the main U.S. base at Bagram.

<http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/29/news/afghan.php>
(more at link above)

here come the boogiemen.

How can this be? Better they shoot down helicopters in Afghanistan than in NYC!
:sarcasm:

If Iraq never happened and we didn't rely on tribal leaders to do our job, we'd have OBL and the taliban would truly be gone. Thanks George... another 17 dead Americans on your shoulder. You just sunk deeper into hell.

I dont think that the Taliban are going to make functional boogeymen anymore.
Every mention of them still being around makes Bush seem like a bigger loser.