As we have already reported, U.S. Air Force E-11A Plane Crashes In Taliban-held Area In Afghanistan. Now according to media reports, The Taliban has claimed it shot down an American military plane in Afghanistan, killing everyone on board.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the militant group, said that high-ranking officers were among the dead after the aircraft was brought down in Dih Yak district around 1.10pm local time.
The US military has said it is investigating the crash but has not confirmed that the aircraft was American or given an estimate on the number of deaths.
Mujahid spoke out after footage was posted online by a Taliban-affiliated journalist appearing to show wreckage of the plane with a US Air Force symbol on the side.
A U.S. Air Force’s E-11A BACN (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node) crashed during the morning on Jan. 27, 2020 in Afghanistan. The mishap happened in the Taliban-controlled area in Dih Yak, Ghazni.
The aircraft crashed at 13:10 local time (08:40 UTC) in the Dih Yak District. Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. The crash site is 130 kilometres (70 nmi) southwest of Kabul and near the village of Sado Khelo. All the people on board were killed. It was originally reported to be an aircraft of Ariana Afghan Airlines, but the airline later ruled out this possibility, saying all its flights had been accounted for.
In the meantime, however, photos and videos emerged on social media showed the remains of what clearly seems to be E-11A BACN, serial 11-9358. The tail section and the engines seem to be pretty intact in the video, with recognizable USAF roundels on the engine and the serial code on the vertical stabilizer. The rest of the fuselage and the cockpit burned up following the crash.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1221776171345547266
U.S. Army Maj. Beth Riordan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command, said that it remained unclear whose aircraft was involved in the crash.
Provincial government spokesman Arif Noori told CBS News’ Ahmad Mukhtar the plane appeared to have been flying between the southern city of Kandahar and the capital Kabul, about 200 miles to the north. Ghazni province is between those two locations.
Noori said the bodies of two pilots were found at the crash site and that the plane was completely destroyed. He did not mention any other casualties.
A U.S. military official confirmed to CBS News senior national security correspondent David Martin that an Air Force E-11 had crashed in Afghanistan. The official said the cause of the crash was still being investigated and he would not discuss the fate of the crew.
