A helicopter which crashed killing 30 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, shot down after Taliban lay a trap to lure U.S. troops into the area, said an Afghan government official Monday. "It could be argued that the helicopter was shot down due to a trap made by a Taliban commander," said the official, who spoke on condition his identity known.
The official said the commander of U.S. forces was captivated by the scene said they found a meeting place of the Taliban there. The official said that President Hamid Karzai has backed the U.S. government "think this is a counter-attack for the killing of Osama bin Laden."
The Taliban did not make such statements when they claimed responsibility for the attack. Citing intelligence data "collected from the area," they blame the officials Qari Tahir, a Taliban commander, for masterminding the attack. He accused the four Pakistani nationals to help Tahir attack.
He said that intelligence also showed that the Chinook helicopter was forced down by a few shots including the "modern weapons" without giving further details. The helicopter was attacked from both sides of the valley, the only path that connects Syad Abad district of Wardak province dominated the Taliban in which attacks also occurred on Friday evening, the official said.
"The Taliban knew which lines would take the helicopter," he added. "That's the only way, so they took up positions on both sides of the mountains and valleys darim at the helicopter approached, they attacked with rockets and other modern weapons. The plane crashed due to a lot of shots," he said.