The claims by Taliban that the aircraft that crashed in Afghanistan was a US aircraft were confirmed by US officials who told Reuters that the aircraft was indeed a small US military plane. The report, however, stopped short of confirming Taliban hand in the incident, and unnamed US officials were quoted as saying that there were no indications that the aircraft had been shot down by enemies. The US officials did not confirm the number of casualties but said that less than 10 people had been on board the aircraft when it crashed.
Earlier in the day, the Taliban had claimed to have shot down an aircraft over the central Afghan province of Ghazni. Its claim that it was a US military aircraft had remained unverified until the US military confirmed the rumours. There were no survivors and all personnel on board were killed, the report said.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, had claimed that the aircraft that was on an intelligence mission was brought down in Sado Khel area of Deh Yak district of Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. Mujahid had claimed that there were senior US officials on the aircraft it shot down and there were no survivors. While confirming the shooting down, US defence officials told Reuters that the aircraft was not carrying any senior officials.
Images on social media reportedly from the crash site had shown what looked like a US military’s Bombardier E-11A surveillance aircraft. The E-11A is used by the military for electronic surveillance in Afghanistan, reports said. The aircraft is used by the US military to carry the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) system in areas where communication is difficult. The system is colloquially referred to as “Wi-Fi in the sky” as it helps extend range of radio signals, an AP report said.
