Taliban militants responsible for downing U.S. helicopter killed

The Taliban militants who shot down a U.S. military helicopter in Afghanistan, leaving 30 U.S. and eight Afghan soldiers dead, have been killed by coalition forces, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday. Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told reporters at the Pentagon that coalition forces dealt with the militants "in a kinetic strike." "At approximately midnight on 8th August, coalition forces killed the Taliban insurgents responsible for this attack," he said. Some 30 U.S. troops were killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down by a Taliban rocket propelled grenade on Saturday -- the most deadly single attack since the beginning of the Afghanistan war in 2001.