Washington - The vice-chairman of the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff categorically denied yesterday claims that Taliban forces shot down a US helicopter in Pakistan, killing four US soldiers on board. "There was no US helicopter shot down in Pakistan. There were not four or any other number of US servicemen killed in that non-shootdown," Gen Peter Pace told reporters at the Pentagon.
A helicopter crashed in high terrain several days ago due to icing, Gen Pace said, describing an incident from Friday. No US helicopter on the mission to Afghanistan has crashed since then, he said.