Seals from team that killed Bin Laden in helicopter crash

A US helicopter crashed in Afghanistan yesterday killing 31 special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy Seals unit that killed Osama bin Laden.

Seven Afghan commandos also died in the deadliest single incident for American forces in the decade-long war.

The Taleban claimed they shot down the helicopter with rocket fire while it was taking part in a raid on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak late on Friday.

It said wreckage of the craft was strewn at the scene. A senior US administration official in Washington said the craft was apparently shot down by insurgents.

It emerged last night that the dead included more than 20 Navy Seals from Seals Team Six, the unit that carried out the raid in Pakistan in May that killed bin Laden.

Nato confirmed the overnight crash took place and that there "was enemy activity in the area."

But it said it was still investigating and conducting a recovery operation at the site.

Nato spokesman US Air Force Captain Justin Brockhoff said: "We are in the process of accessing the facts."

President Barack Obama mourned the deaths of the troops, saying the crash serves as a reminder of the "extraordinary sacrifices" being made by the US military and its families.

He said he also mourned "the Afghans who died alongside our troops".

The death toll surpasses the worst single-day loss of life for the US-led coalition in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001, which was previously losing a military helicopter in eastern Kunar province on 28 June, 2005.

In that incident, 16 Navy Seals and army special operations troops were killed when their craft was shot down while on a mission to rescue four Seals under attack by the Taleban.

Three of the Seals being rescued were also killed and the fourth wounded. It was the highest one-day death toll for Navy Special Warfare personnel since the Second World War.

With its steep mountain ranges, providing shelter for militants armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, eastern Afghanistan is hazardous terrain for military aircraft.

Large, slow-moving air transport carriers like the CH-47 Chinook are particularly vulnerable, often forced to travel through sheer valleys where insurgents can achieve more level lines of fire from mountainsides.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai yesterday said that "a Nato helicopter crashed last night in Wardak province" and that 31 American special operations troops were killed. He expressed his condolences to President Obama.

The helicopter was a twin-rotor Chinook, often referred to as the warhorse of British and US air operations in Afghanistan because of its heavy use in the campaign.

The crash took place in the Sayd Abad district of Wardak province.The volatile region borders the province of Kabul where the Afghan capital is located and is known for its strong Taleban presence.

Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that Taleban fighters shot down the helicopter during a "heavy raid" in Sayd Abad.

He said Nato attacked a house in Sayd Abad where insurgent fighters were gathering. During the battle, the fighters shot down the helicopter. He said eight insurgents were killed in the fight.

There have been at least 17 coalition and Afghan aircraft crashes in Afghanistan this year.

Most of the crashes were attributed to pilot errors, weather conditions or mechanical failures. However, the coalition has confirmed that at least one CH-47F Chinook helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade on 25 July. Two coalition crew members were injured in that attack.

Earlier yesterday, Afghan police said a Nato air strike killed eight civilians in southern Helmand province.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed there had been an air strike in Helmand's Nad Ali district and said it was investigating whether civilians had been present at the time. Civilian casualties have long been a major source of friction between Kabul and its Western backers.