The US military believes that all 17 troops aboard the helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan on Tuesday were killed, NBC News reported Wednesday, quoting senior Pentagon officials.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity after the military earlier said the Chinook helicopter was likely shot down by hostile fire. The Taliban had claimed it shot down the aircraft.

The helicopter took indirect or direct fire from the ground, US military spokesman Colonel James Yonts told a news conference in Kabul. "So that's why we say that it may have caused the crash of the helicopter."

Bad weather hampered rescuers Wednesday at the crash site in the snow-covered mountains near Asadabad in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

The helicopter was carrying forces as part of Operation Red Wing against al-Qaida militants, the military said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2005)