The Taliban have claimed they shot down a US helicopter that crashed in southern Afghanistan, leaving two soldiers dead, Press TV reported.
Two US service members were killed on Thursday in a helicopter crash in Helmand province, the third fatal chopper crash in the south of Afghanistan in less than two months, The Los Angeles Times reported.
A NATO official said an investigation is underway and that hostile fire could not be ruled out.
Two NATO helicopters were lost in June: one was shot down and the other had mechanical problems. Both of those deadly crashes also took place in the Taliban heartland, where the majority of Western military casualties occur.
Thursday's crash took place near Lashkar Gah, Helmand's provincial capital. Thousands of US Marines and British troops are deployed in the area, which lies close to the town of Marja, the scene of a major offensive earlier this year.
Afghan authorities had previously reported that several Taliban operatives, who intended to attack Tuesday's gathering of high-level diplomats, including United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, had been arrested or killed.
The UN chief's plane was diverted to a nearby air base because of rocket fire aimed at the international airport, but insurgents did not manage to otherwise disrupt the meeting.