US Army Investigating Plane Crash in Afghanistan’s Ghazni
US Army Investigating Plane Crash in Afghanistan’s Ghazni
The US military is investigating reports of a plane crash in Afghanistan’s central province of Ghazni.

US Army Investigating Plane Crash in Afghanistan’s Ghazni

According To Iran News, The US military is investigating reports of a plane crash in Afghanistan’s central province of Ghazni.

The plane crashed Monday in territory under Taliban control but the number of casualties and exact details remain unclear. Social media images, purportedly from the site, show the possible remains of a Bombardier E-11A aircraft.

US Army Maj. Beth Riordan, a spokeswoman for US Central Command, told AP it remained unclear whose aircraft was involved in the crash and declined to comment further, CNBC reported.

Meanwhile, Arif Noori, a spokesman for the governor’s office in Ghazni, said fire brigades, security officials and rescue teams were at the scene of the crash. Noori added that there we approximately 100 bodies at the scene.

It was initially reported to be a plane from the state-owned Ariana Afghan Airlines. However, the airline’s acting CEO Mirwais Mirzakwal has since denied that one of its planes had crashed.

“There has been an airline crash but it does not belong to Ariana because the two flights managed by Ariana today from Herat to Kabul and Herat to Delhi are safe,” Mirzakwal told Reuters.

A Facebook account belonging to the airline also said that if any crash did happen, it didn’t involve one of its planes.

The spokesman for the provincial governor said the plane went down around 1:10 p.m. local time in the Deh Yak district. Two provincial council members also confirmed the crash, according to AP.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the group was checking on news of a plane crash, Reuters also reported.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) currently has a notification which cites Afghanistan airspace warnings from a number of countries. The UK Aeronautical Information Service suggests a potential risk to aircraft flying below 25,000 feet due to “anti aviation weaponry.”

United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advises “extreme caution” when flying into Afghan airspace, adding that ground time in the country should be minimized.