A SMALL team of American soldiers was missing last night in the same mountains in eastern Afghanistan where a special forces helicopter was shot down earlier this week.

US forces desperately scoured rugged Afghan mountains today for a small team of soldiers missing after fierce fighting that included the shooting down of a special forces helicopter with 16 troops aboard earlier this week, US officials said.

THE bodies of 13 American troops have been recovered from the crash of a US helicopter in eastern Afghanistan, but seven more soldiers are unaccounted for and some may have been captured.

THE US military said yesterday that hostile fire likely brought down a Chinook helicopter that crashed in eastern Afghanistan, and officials said the status of the 17 American soldiers aboard was unknown.

A US Chinook helicopter that crashed in eastern Afghanistan may have been shot down by hostile fire, and the fate of 17 American service members aboard was unclear, the US military said today. The Taliban claimed it attacked the aircraft.

A US Chinook helicopter that crashed in eastern Afghanistan was likely shot down by hostile fire, and the fate of 17 American servicemembers is unclear, the US military said today. The Taliban claimed to have attacked the aircraft.

Fierce fighting between Taliban rebels and Afghan security forces left 18 insurgents and three others dead, a day after the US military pounded suspected rebels in airstrikes that killed as many as 20, officials said today.