Afghan media reports say a plane crashed Monday in Ghazni province's Deh Yak district, south-west of the capital Kabul, in an area with a strong Taliban presence. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board the plane. Ariana Afghan Airlines has denied reports that it was one of its passenger jets that had come down.
Khaama Press News Agency reports that local officials initially said it was a passenger plane belonging to Afghan airline Ariana.
Azizullah Azimi, a spokesman for Ghazni province, reportedly confirmed the crash of an Ariana Airbus in the Deh Yak district.
The dead casualties have not yet been specified, Azimi was cited as saying.
TOLONews, citing Khaliqdad Akbari, a member of the local provincial council, says the plane crashed in territory under Taliban control and Afghan Special Forces will be sent to the crash site.
Provincial government spokesman Arif Noori Ghazni reportedly told CBS News that the plane appeared to have been a flight between the southern city of Kandahar and the capital Kabul.
Ghazni 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. Ghazni said it did not belong to an Afghan carrier, but could not confirmed who was operating the aircraft.
Ariana Airlines said all of its fleet were accounted for, and the country's aviation body later announced that no civilian plane had crashed.
