Militants claim downing US helicopter (Afghanistan)

[TexasLawyer]

Militants claim downing US helicopter
45 killed in anti-Taliban blitz; Four cops dead in roadside bombing in Kandahar

By our correspondent

PESHAWAR: Taliban claimed on Friday that their fighters shot down a US helicopter and destroyed two military vehicles in two days’ fighting with the coalition forces in the Paktika province of Afghanistan.

Speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, Muhammad Sharif Haqqani, spokesman for Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, said the US helicopter was shot down in the Ziaroki area of Paktika on Thursday. He was however unsure of the fate of the crew.

He also claimed that an unspecified number of coalition soldiers were injured in clashes with the US-led coalition on Thursday and Friday. The spokesman said 13 US soldiers were killed when a military vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in the same area.

Another US military vehicle was targeted with a rocket in the Nakka area on Friday, killing seven US soldiers, he said, adding that those surviving the attack fled the scene. Haqqani admitted that five Taliban fighters were killed in the fighting. He belied the claim of the Paktika administration that 50 Taliban had been killed and 70 others injured in the two days of fighting. However, his claims could not be verified from independent sources.

<snip>

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=1460

[cliss]

1. 13 US troops? And 7 US troops?

OMG...this is unbelievable. The only thing I can comment is, about 2 weeks ago the US was accused of causing some deaths in a traffic incident in Kabul (?). Several civilians were killed. Immediately afterwards, there was rioting in Afgh. People were furious, accused the US of just ramming into people, killing them carelessly.

Later that day, you could see a photo of Afghans hurling boulders at a US Humvee. There was a long line of men, taking pot shots at the vehicle. The Hum Vee was dented all over. The windshield was smashed and you could tell the driver was hauling to get out of there in one piece.

Not one week later, a US convoy driver careens and drives right into an Afghan family's home. Don't know if anyone was killed.

People are absolutely Homicidal and they've got the US in their sights. The US cannot prevail in this situation.

Afghanistan will blow up before even Iraq does. They will need to pull them out of there.....FAST...