Fighters who downed US chopper alive: Taliban

The Taliban today denied that the fighters responsible for downing a US helicopter, killing 38 people, had been killed.

The Taliban on Thursday denied that the fighters responsible for downing a US helicopter, killing 38 people, had been killed.

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The comments came after General John Allen, commander of the NATO-led foreign force in Afghanistan, yesterday said that the insurgents responsible had been hunted down and killed in an air strike.

But Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said: "This is not true. After seeing the enemy statement, we contacted the mujahed (fighter) who shot down the helicopter and he's not dead. He's busy conducting jihad elsewhere in the country."

Mujahid added that four Taliban fighters had been killed in the US air strike but not those who shot down the helicopter.

The Taliban is known to exaggerate and distort its public statements in relation to the insurgency.