NATO probes Afghan crash

Nato troops tried to ascertain on Sunday if Taliban insurgents had shot down a troop-carrying helicopter in Afghanistan, killing 38 people in the largest loss of life suffered by foreign troops in a single incident in 10 years of war.

In what has proved to be a bloody two days for foreign forces in Afghanistan, another two unidentified Nato troops were killed in two separate attacks by insurgents in Afghanistan’s violent east and south, the coalition said.

Thirty US soldiers — some from the Navy’s special forces SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden — seven Afghans and an interpreter died in Friday night’s crash which came just two weeks after foreign troops began a security handover to Afghan forces.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for bringing down the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. A US official in Washington said the helicopter was believed to have been shot down.