The US military press office in Afghanistan said in a statement on Wednesday that the unmanned aircraft crashed due to technical malfunction in Jalalabad. Taliban militants claim they have shot down several aircraft and NATO choppers in different parts of Afghanistan over the past few months. The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism and eradicating the Taliban regime, but its failure has forced Washington to turn to negotiations with the militants. The Taliban have steadily stepped up their attacks on US-led forces, inflicting heavy casualties on them.