WASHINGTON - Coalition forces in Afghanistan have killed the Taliban militants responsible for shooting down a US helicopter last weekend but not the insurgent leader initially sought in the operation, the top US commander in Afghanistan said on Wednesday.

"We dealt with them in a kinetic strike," General John Allen, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told reporters at the Pentagon.

The crash, which killed 30 Americans and eight Afghans, was the single deadliest incident involving US forces since the war in Afghanistan began nearly a decade ago.