The Taliban said it had shot down a U.S. military plane in the central Afghan province of Ghazni on January 27, killing all personnel on board.
A Taliban spokesman claimed that the group shot the plane down over territory they control near Ghazni city. “The plane, which was on an intelligence mission, was brought down in Sado Khel area of Deh Yak district of Ghazni province,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said in a statement, adding that everyone on board, including high ranking officers, had been killed.
The US military has confirmed that one of its aircraft crashed in eastern Afghanistan but said there was “no indication the crash was caused by enemy fire,” according to The Guardian.
Recall, the initial reports indicated it was an Afghan Ariana passenger plane that crashed in Ghazni province with 83 people on board, but late the state-owned Afghan Ariana rejected the report and said in a statement that all their flights have been conducted normally.
The US Bombardier E-11A reportedly went down in the Deh Yak district of Ghazni province, an area that is under the control of the Taliban, early on Monday afternoon.
The Associated Press (AP) says the Bombardier E-11A is a U.S. Air Force electronic surveillance plane. According to the AP, the so-called Battlefield Airborne Communications Node can be carried on unmanned or crewed aircraft like the E-11A. It is reportedly used by the military to extend the range of radio signals and can be used to convert the output of one device to another, such as connecting a radio to a telephone.
The AP says the US military uses the system as “Wi-Fi in the sky,” in areas where communications are otherwise difficult, elevating signals above obstacles like mountains."
Khaama Press says the aircraft assigned to 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron.
The Guardian says a spokesman for the US military in Afghanistan tweeted, “While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire.” According to him, Taliban claims that additional aircraft have crashed are false.
