‘Lucky Shot’ Downed U.S. Chopper

An American helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan this week, killing all 16 on board, was apparently downed by an insurgent’s “lucky shot” with a rocket-propelled grenade, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

The shooting down of the Chinook MH-47 was the first time an American military helicopter crashed because of hostile fire in Afghanistan, Marine Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon. The crew of a second aircraft saw the attack, he said.

Other helicopters have been lost because of weather and poor flying conditions, he said.

“Indications are that it was an RPG, which is a pretty lucky shot, honestly, against a moving helicopter,” Conway told reporters in a Pentagon briefing.

Conway emphasized that military officials did not believe the helicopter downing represented an advancement in the abilities of insurgents.

“There’s no indication that there are more sophisticated ... ground-to-air systems ... that are involved,” he said. “I don’t see it as an increased level of sophistication.”

Pentagon officials had initially said 17 were missing and presumed dead in the crash, but corrected the figure after search crews reached the site and recovered the bodies of the special operations troops.

The downed military personnel had been flying in to reinforce troops fighting anti-government insurgents in the eastern province of Kunar, along the mountainous border with Pakistan.

Troops in the area have been carrying out a mission to clear the territory of pro-Taliban fighters.

The names of those aboard the chopper were withheld pending notification of relatives.

Some ground troops in the operation remain unaccounted for, Conway said, declining to elaborate.

“It’s an ongoing operation,” he said. “And we don’t have full accountability, nor will we until such time as the operation is complete.”

Stephen J. Hadley, President Bush’s national security advisor, called it “a sad day.”

“Any loss of life is a sad event for the country and for the president,” Hadley said at a briefing. “He and the nation mourn every life.

“He remains confident that the loss of life is in a good cause in terms of bringing stability and freedom to Afghanistan so that Afghanistan does not again become the kind of haven for terrorists that allowed things like 9/11 to occur.”

The attack came amid a rising series of assaults against Afghan government sites and the American military in advance of Afghan parliamentary elections in September, officials said. The United States and its allies might increase their troop presence around the time of the election, Conway said.

Guerrilla fighters in Afghanistan apparently have begun mimicking their counterparts in Iraq by making increasing use of roadside bombs, known as improvised explosive devices, Conway said. The end of the heavy winter snowfalls brought out a “spring resurgence” of fighters, he said.