Taliban show footage of 'downed US helicopter'

The Taliban has allowed camera crews to film what it claims is the wreckage of a US helicopter it shot down.

It took a CNN camera crew to film some parts of the aircraft, but senior US sources say the story is a lie.

The footage shows landing gear with markings in English. Boeing and Loud Engineering can be read on one of the pieces.

The CNN crew was taken to Baba Sahiv mountain, southwest of Kandahar, to see the parts, but were not taken to the site where the Taliban said the aircraft went down.

The Taliban said they had downed a helicopter that they believed was being used by US troops in commando raids.

Taliban officials said after they shot the helicopter over Kandahar, it flew off and crashed over the border with Pakistan.

However, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Richard Myers said later: "Any claims that they shot a helicopter down is false."