Browne dismisses Taliban claims over Afghan Air Crash

British Defence Secretary Des Browne today dismissed as "propaganda'' claims that the Taliban shot down a Nato aircraft in Afghanistan which killed all 14 British soldiers on board.

The RAF Nimrod MR2, from Kinloss in Scotland, crashed 12 miles west of Kandahar after suffering what was thought to be a technical fault.

An emergency call was received from the reconnaissance aircraft yesterday afternoon before it disappeared off the radar.

Shortly after the incident, purported Taliban spokesman Abdul Khaliq claimed the militia had brought the aircraft down using a Stinger missile.

But Mr Browne insisted all the indicators suggested it was a "terrible accident''.

"The Taliban regularly lie in response to events in Afghanistan,'' he told BBC1's Sunday AM programme.

"They have in the past consistently lied about what our troops have been doing in certain communities.

"It is the heart of their propaganda that they are dishonestly representing what our troops are there to do to the people of Afghanistan.