The U.S. military says it is searching with all available assets for a U.S. reconnaissance team that disappeared in Afghanistan Tuesday.
The team vanished just before a helicopter coming to help it was shot down in Afghanistan's mountainous Kunar province bordering Pakistan, with the loss of all 16 Special Forces soldiers aboard.
Military spokesman Colonel Jim Yonts says U.S. forces have been searching for the team since Tuesday's crash. He says he has no reason to believe any of its members have been killed or captured.
He said he could neither confirm nor deny a Taleban claim that the insurgents killed seven U.S. soldiers before the helicopter went down.
The crash was the second loss of a U.S. Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan within three months, and came amid a surge in guerrilla activity aimed at derailing the September parliamentary polls.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
