Following is an excerpt from an Al-Jazeera TV report on the Taliban in Afghanistan, which aired on May 13, 2010.

Reporter: These are the remains of a US-made Chinook helicopter. The US forces in Afghanistan admitted that it had been hit last Tuesday, saying that it was forced to land, and that everyone aboard was evacuated alive. The Taliban movement, however, says that its militants waged a fierce battle, which lasted several hours, near the Sangin district, in Helmand Province, south Afghanistan. It said that the downing of the helicopter was one of the results.

Habibullah (Taliban spokesman in Helmand Province): As the spokesman for the commander of operations in Helmand, I can say that we inflicted great losses upon the US forces in the Sangin district, when they tried to attack us. We downed three helicopters.

Reporter: The delight that these citizens derived from the American helicopter wreckage clearly indicates their bias toward the people who claimed responsibility for downing it, in the battles waged in the south, although the foreign forces say that their real battle is to win the hearts and minds of the people, not to wreak destruction.

Young man: I went up to the roof, and I saw the foreign forces moving their dead and wounded. Then planes bombed the place where the helicopters crashed, and destroyed two of them. The mujahideen took large quantities of weapons.

Reporter: The Taliban militants wish to consolidate their control of the southern regions, ignoring the threats of renewed operations by the foreign and Afghan forces in the summer. The Taliban were the first to declare counter-operations, which they named Fath [“victory”]. It says that the Sangin battle was the opening shot.