KABUL — Their name conjures up the most celebrated moment of America’s post-Sept. 11 military campaigns. Now the Navy SEALs belong to a grimmer chapter in history: the most deadly incident for U.S. forces in the 10-year Afghanistan war.

Three months after they killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan and cemented their place in military legend, the SEALs suffered a devastating loss when nearly two dozen of the elite troops were among 30 Americans who died when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan early Saturday.

It was the largest number of American troops killed in a single day in the war. U.S. officials said the helicopter appeared to have been felled by enemy fire, and the Taliban quickly claimed responsibility. Eight Afghan commandos also were killed, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said.

No member of the bin Laden raid team was among the dead, said a Pentagon official briefed on the casualties who was not authorized to speak publicly while families still were being notified. But he said 22 of the 30 were Navy SEALs, and a significant number were members of SEAL Team Six, the unit that conducted the bin Laden raid and is made up of just a few hundred of some of the best-trained fighters in the U.S. military.

The loss of so many represents a significant blow to a tight-knit group that is involved in some of the most sensitive U.S. counterterrorism operations around the world.

There was no indication that insurgents knew that many aboard the doomed Chinook belonged to Team Six. But the Taliban and its allies are likely to reap an enormous propaganda boost from the deaths.

The Taliban often seek to appeal to the country’s folkloric sensibilities by depicting battlefield exploits in florid fashion; videos and songs trumpet various successes against foreign “invaders,” and any victory against NATO forces is held up as proof of divine inspiration and guidance.

The downing of the U.S. helicopter in mountainous Wardak province comes at a crucial juncture of the war, as the U.S. begins a drawdown in troops in a prelude to a full-fledged withdrawal.

Civilians die in Afghan airstrike

A woman and seven young children were killed in southern Afghanistan when a coalition patrol called in an airstrike against insurgents firing on them from a mud compound, Afghan officials said Saturday. NATO said it was investigating the attack.

Habibullah Shamlani, the governor of Nad-Ali, the district in Helmand province where the attack occurred, said the NATO foot patrol came under fire Friday from the compound. One soldier was killed, and an Afghan interpreter was wounded.

The home belonged to Mullah Abdul Hadi, 50, a local imam who Afghan officials say was helping the Taliban. He was killed along with one of his two wives and his seven children, all younger than 7 years old, Shamlani said.

— New York Times News Service