DOHA, Nov 7: Four sons of Osama bin Laden were shown by Qatar’s al-Jazeera satellite news channel on Wednesday accompanying Taliban and “Afghan Arab” fighters on a search of a purported US base in central Afghanistan.

Hamza, Mohammad, Khaled and Laden, who looked aged 10 to 18, were helping search for a base allegedly set up by US forces in the province of Ghazni in the east central sector of Afghanistan, the television said.

A turbaned Hamza, who appeared to be the youngest of the four, recited a poem extolling “Kabul, which emerges from trials with its head held high”, and praising Mullah Mohammad Omar, supreme leader of the Taliban.

The heavily-armed group — some of whom looked for locations on a map and occasionally used a Palm Pilot computer — spent four days in the area.

“Death to (US President George W.) Bush,” read a paper stuck on a rifle carried by one of the group.

Another explained to fellow fighters that the United States was a “superpower in Hollywood” but would “not dare confront us here”.

The television also showed the wreckage of an American helicopter which the Taliban claimed to have shot down on Friday.

Taliban officials said on Saturday the militia had shot down two helicopters in Ghazni, killing around 50 Americans.

The militia’s spokesman, Amir Khan Mutaqi, told Al-Jazeera that the group had not found the alleged US base during their trip to the province.—AFP