Taliban say they downed Afghan helicopter: Web

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban fighters downed a NATO military helicopter which crashed in Afghanistan, the militant group said in a statement on the Internet on Thursday.

NATO said seven of its soldiers were killed in the crash.

"The mujahideen of the Islamic state downed the Chinook helicopter that belonged to the NATO occupiers yesterday evening using a new anti-aircraft missile," the group said in a statement posted on a Web site used by militant groups.

The Taliban said 60 "enemy soldiers" were killed in the crash in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. A Chinook can carry 28 combat-equipped troops, a U.S. military official said.

Hours after the helicopter went down, the Taliban ambushed a police convoy on a main road in southern Zabul province and killed 16 policemen, the interior ministry said.

Since a winter lull, the Taliban have launched a series of suicide attacks, roadside bombs and ambushes against foreign and Afghan forces.

In an apparent response to the Chinook crash, a joint NATO and Afghan raid supported by air power killed and wounded dozens of Taliban in Sangin district, close to Kajaki where the twin-rotor NATO helicopter went down on Wednesday night, the Afghan defense ministry said.

NATO said the fighting was part of a broader offensive called "Operation Lastay Kulang," from the local Pashto language for "axe handle," meant to extend the Afghan government's control into the north of Helmand province.