Taliban claims responsibility for US military plane crash in Afghanistan
US officials have described the plane as a small military craft, and denied it was brought down by enemy activity.
By REUTERSAfghan National Army forces go towards the site of an airplane crash in Deh Yak district of Ghazni province, Afghanistan January 27, 2020.(photo credit: REUTERS/MUSTAFA ANDALEB)
The US military confirmed on Monday a crash by an E-11A military aircraft in Afghanistan's Ghazni province but, despite claims by Taliban insurgents that they shot it down, said there were "no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire.""Taliban claims that additional aircraft have crashed are false," a US military spokesman, Colonel Sonny Leggett, wrote on Twitter.His tweet follows an earlier statement given by US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, who said there were no indications so far that the plane had been brought down by enemy activity. One of the officials said there were believed to be fewer than 10 people on board.Pictures and a video on social media purportedly from the crash site showed what could be the remains of a Bombardier E-11A aircraft.Senior Afghan officials told Reuters the authorities had rushed local personnel to locate and identify the wreckage, in a mountainous area partly controlled by the Taliban. Reuters journalists filmed Afghan soldiers heading towards the snow-covered mountains where the plane crashed in Ghazni province."The plane which was on an intelligence mission, was brought down in Sado Khel area of Deh Yak district of Ghazni province," said Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban in a statement.Mujahid did not say how fighters had brought the plane down. He said the crew on board included high ranking US officers. A senior defense official denied that senior American officers were involved.The Taliban control large parts of Ghazni province. The militant group, which has been waging a war against US- led forces since 2001, often exaggerates enemy casualty figures.Civilian airline Ariana Afghan Airlines denied initial reports that it was the owner of the plane."It does not belong to Ariana because the two flights managed by Ariana today, from Herat to Kabul and Herat to Delhi, are safe," its acting CEO, Mirwais Mirzakwal, told Reuters.Two officials from Ghazni province said the crashed aircraft appeared to belong to a foreign company."There is no exact information on casualties and the name of the airline," Ghazni provincial governor Wahidullah Kaleemzai told private broadcaster Tolo News earlier on Monday.Dozens of private entities operate planes and helicopters across Afghanistan to move military contractors and aid.
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