All witnesses of Al-Qaeda Chief Osama Bin Laden's death are gone, as a US Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, killing thirty-one US special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy SEALs Team 6 that killed Bin Laden, along with seven Afghan commandos.
The Taliban claimed they downed the helicopter with rocket fire while it was taking part in a raid on a house where Taliban were gathered in the province of Wardak. It said wreckage of the chopper was strewn at the scene.
US officials confirmed to NBC News that the US believes the helicopter was shot down. One senior defense official, speakng on condition of anonymity, said the military does "not have any indication that it was anything other than friendly fire, most probably from an accompanying Apache".
NATO confirmed the overnight crash took place and that there "was enemy activity in the area." But it said it was still investigating the cause and conducting a recovery operation at the site. It did not release details or casualty figures.
"We are in the process of accessing the facts," said US Air Force Captain Justin Brockhoff, a NATO spokesman.
Moreover, according to several US media reports, the dead were part of the special forces team that killed Al-Qaeda Chief Osama Bin Laden in a raid in Pakistan in May.
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