Taliban extremists claim they have shot down a US helicopter in southern Afghanistan, reports on social media say, adding that all American soldiers on board were allegedly “killed on the spot.”
The incident is said to have taken place in the Shawal Manda area of Nad Ali district in Helmand province, the largest province in Afghanistan.
The photo below, posted on Facebook by Watan Press, a Kabul-based newspaper, claims to depict the downed helicopter.
According to unconfirmed social media reports, four soldiers aboard the helicopter were killed in the incident.
The Taliban is an terrorist movement that appeared in Afghanistan in the early 1990s. Following the US-led invasion in 2001, the Taliban re-emerged in the mid-2000s and now controls large parts of the country.
US media quoted an unnamed military official as saying that initial reports indicate a Resolute Support helicopter had made hard landing in Helmand, with no reports of casualties.
The US military source added that an investigation is underway into the incident.
Taliban militants have increased their acts of violence against Afghan forces and US-led forces.
Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has recently predicted a tough year ahead for Afghanistan as the Kabul government continues battling the Taliban and other militant groups across the war-torn country.
He said on March 16 during a visit to Kabul that the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorists will keep up their attacks across Afghanistan throughout 2016 as they try to assert their presence.
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