NATO refutes Taliban claim it shot down US helicopter

The Taliban claimed to shoot down a US helicopter during an operation in the eastern Afghan province of Logar today. However, Resolute Support – NATO’s mission in Afghanistan – claimed the aircraft made “a precautionary landing for a maintenance issue.”

The Taliban made the claim on its propaganda website, Voice of Jihad.

Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate shot down U.S invaders’ helicopter gunship over Logar province of Afghanistan last night, killing all those aboard the chopper, Al-Emarah News said Wednesday.

The initial reports from the scene said the helicopter was on a mission to raid and bomb out Mujahideen positions on the outskirts of Pol-e-Alam city, the capital of Logar province and it was shot down while it was attempting to drop off military personnel.

This came after the combined U.S invaders and their puppets tried to break through Mujahideen positions in Dasht-e-Bari area on the outskirts of Pol-i-Alam city. Over 20 crew and military personnel were killed in the shooting down.
Almost simultaneously, an armored tank hit a landmine blast and was blown part killing all those aboard it.

In retaliation, the U.S invaders’ helicopters bombed out residential area on the outskirts of Pol-e-Alam city, leaving at least 13 civilians mostly children and women martyred and another 7 injured.

Resolute Support said the Taliban’s claim “is false.”

The Taliban’s claim to have shot down a U.S. helicopter in Logar Province is false. pic.twitter.com/M2cA7kP3Ai

— Resolute Support (@ResoluteSupport) August 30, 2017

Resolute Support and US Forces Afghanistan also acknowledged reports of civilian casualties in Logar, which were mentioned in the Taliban claim:

U.S. Forces-Afghanistan is aware of an incident in the Pul-e ‘Alam District in Logar Province pic.twitter.com/x3ZReMEgkp

— Resolute Support (@ResoluteSupport) August 30, 2017

Unfortunately, both the Taliban, Resolute Support and its predecessor – the International Security Assistance Force – have proven less than credible when it comes to these types of claims. The Taliban often says it has downed US or Afghan helicopters without supporting its claims. But, in the past, the Coalition and the Afghan military have at times been less than forthcoming when helicopters have been shot down by the Taliban.

One example took place on Dec. 17, 2013, when a US Blackhawk helicopter went down in Zabul province, killing six US soldiers. The Taliban claimed it shot down the Blackhawk. But the US military discounted the Taliban’s claim and said in a press release that “initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash.” Three weeks later, the US military told the families of the soldiers killed that “enemy action caused the crash and loss of life.”

In the past, the Taliban has shot down several US helicopters using RPGs, or rocket-propelled grenades. The most newsworthy strike took place in Aug. 2011 in the Tangi Valley of Wardak province. Taliban RPGs struck a US Army Chinook that was involved in a raid to capture a senior Taliban commander. That attack resulted in the deaths of 38 US and Afghan troops, including 17 Navy SEALs from SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed al Qaeda’s founder and first emir, Osama bin Laden.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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Tags: Afghanistan, Taliban