A NATO helicopter that crashed in eastern Afghanistan killing dozens of U.S. military personnel, seven Afghan troops and an interpreter was apparently shot down by insurgents, says a senior U.S. official.
At least 30 U.S. personnel are said to have died in the crash, the highest number of American casualties killed during a single incident in the decade-long war.
Officials said that 22 of the dead were from the elite Navy SEAL unit that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May. U.S. officials believe that none of those who died in the crash had participated in the bin Laden raid, although they were from the same unit that carried out the mission.
Two administration officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
In a statement released by his office, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced that the NATO chopper had crashed in the Sayd Abad district of Afghanistan's Wardak province, a restive area that borders the country's capital Kabul.
Karzai also expressed sympathy to Barack Obama in the message, extending his "deep condolences" to the American president.
In a statement, Obama said the crash is a reminder of the "extraordinary sacrifices" made by U.S. service men and women and their families. Obama, who is spending the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat, also paid tribute to the Afghan troops who lost their lives in the incident.
Earlier Saturday, Taliban militants had claimed to have brought the helicopter down with a rocket attack, but NATO said the cause of the crash was not known.
NATO did say that there "was enemy activity in the area" at the time of the crash. The organization said it was conducting a recovery operation at the site, but did not provide further details.
A Taliban spokesperson said in a statement that the militant group downed the helicopter after NATO attacked a house in Sayd Abad where insurgents were gathering Friday night, killing eight fighters.
Those claims, however, have not been confirmed.
"We are in the process of accessing the facts," NATO spokesperson and U.S. Air Force Cpt. Justin Brockoff told the AP.
The helicopter involved in the crash was a twin-rotor Chinook, said an official at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. Twin-rotor Chinooks are typically used for transport, he said.
It was reported that 30 U.S. service members, a civilian interpreter and seven commandos from the Afghan army died.
Officials said that 22 SEALS, three Air Force air controllers and a dog handler were among the dead. The dog also died.
Aircraft crashes are not unusual in Afghanistan, where air travel is necessary for coalition forces transporting troops and supplies.
In June 2005, 16 American troops were killed when a U.S. helicopter crashed in eastern Kunar province after apparently being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
This year alone there have been at least 17 coalition and Afghan aircraft crashes in Afghanistan. Most of those incidents were due to pilot error, weather conditions or mechanical failure.
With files from The Associated Press
