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Afghan Passenger Plane Crashes, Officials Say Confusion Surrounds Plane Crash in Afghanistan
(about 3 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — A passenger plane crashed in a Taliban-controlled area outside Kabul on Monday, officials said. Details on how many were on board, or whether anyone survived, were unclear. KABUL, Afghanistan — An aircraft crashed in a Taliban-controlled area outside Kabul on Monday, officials said, but key details were unclear, as officials initially said it was a passenger plane before evidence emerged that the craft may have belonged to the American military.
The plane, which local media reported was traveling between the southern province of Kandahar and the capital, Kabul, crashed in the district of Deh Yak in Ghazni Province, said Adam Khan Sirat, a spokesman for the Ghazni police. The plane crashed in the district of Deh Yak in Ghazni Province during a day of harsh weather, said Adam Khan Sirat, a spokesman for the Ghazni police. Mr. Sirat, as well as other senior officials in Afghanistan, including the country’s vice president, initially said it was a passenger plane operated by the country’s national carrier, Ariana Afghan Airlines.
“We don’t know about the casualties so far,” Mr. Sirat said. But hours later, Mr. Sirat said the plane belonged to “foreign forces,” referring to the American-led military coalition in Afghanistan. About 12,000 American troops and thousands of NATO forces remain in Afghanistan, spread around the country. Officers from the headquarters in Kabul frequently shuttle to the bases in aircraft.
Amanullah Kamrani, a member of the Ghazni provincial council, said that the area of the crash was under Taliban control and that the Afghan security forces had no access to the area. A spokesman for the American military would not comment.
The plane, according to local officials in Ghazni, was operated by Ariana Afghan Airlines, the national carrier. Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan’s vice president, also said at a public gathering soon after the crash that the plane had belonged to Ariana. Taliban social media accounts posted pictures and videos of what appeared to be a military aircraft in flames amid snow. Officials said the harsh weather and the inaccessibility of land controlled by the Taliban had made gathering information difficult.
But Alem Shah Ibrahimi, the president of Ariana, would not confirm the news. He said the company’s initial information showed that “all our fleet are located.” The aircraft came down around 1 p.m. local time, officials in Ghazni said, and confusion about even the most basic details continued for hours. The country’s vice president, Sarwar Danish, who said it had been a passenger plane, even expressed “condolences about their martyrdom to the people of Afghanistan.”
With many of the country’s major highways threatened by the Taliban and the intensifying war, Afghans rely on airlines to travel to Kabul and other places. The airlines have repeatedly come under criticism for flying old planes, with several deadly crashes over the past decade. But hours later, Alem Shah Ibrahimi, the president of Ariana, said the company’s initial information showed that “all our fleet are located.” Qasim Wafayezadathe, the head of Afghanistan’s civil aviation agency, said it had confirmed that no civilian plane had crashed.