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| Conflicting reports emerge over plane crash in Taliban territory in Afghanistan | Conflicting reports emerge over plane crash in Taliban territory in Afghanistan |
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| KABUL — Conflicting reports emerged Monday about a plane that crashed in Taliban-controlled territory in central Afghanistan. | KABUL — Conflicting reports emerged Monday about a plane that crashed in Taliban-controlled territory in central Afghanistan. |
| Video footage from the scene posted to social media by a Taliban-linked account appears to show the wreckage of a U.S. Air Force plane. The U.S. military was investigating reports of a crash, the Associated Press reported, citing Army Maj. Beth Riordan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command. | Video footage from the scene posted to social media by a Taliban-linked account appears to show the wreckage of a U.S. Air Force plane. The U.S. military was investigating reports of a crash, the Associated Press reported, citing Army Maj. Beth Riordan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command. |
| The U.S. military command in Kabul did not immediately respond to requests for comment. | The U.S. military command in Kabul did not immediately respond to requests for comment. |
| Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed on Twitter that an “enemy intelligence aircraft” crashed. | |
| Arif Noori, a spokesman for the governor of Ghazni province, confirmed the crash to The Washington Post but said he could not identify the type of plane except to say that “the aircraft belonged to a foreign company and all of the passengers on board were non-Afghans.” | |
| U.S. negotiators receive Taliban proposal to reduce violence in Afghanistan | U.S. negotiators receive Taliban proposal to reduce violence in Afghanistan |
| Ahmad Khan Seerat, Ghazni’s police spokesman, said Afghan special forces were dispatched to the scene of the crash. | |
| Despite initial reports that the aircraft might be a passenger plane, a spokesman for the Afghan Transportation Ministry, Ali Sena Saeed, said no civil aircraft in Afghanistan crashed Monday. | Despite initial reports that the aircraft might be a passenger plane, a spokesman for the Afghan Transportation Ministry, Ali Sena Saeed, said no civil aircraft in Afghanistan crashed Monday. |
| The video posted to social media appears to show the charred fuselage of an Air Force Bombardier E-11A, an electronics surveillance aircraft that helps boost tactical communications on the battlefield. The white plane in the video bears a distinctive star emblem on the engine paired with sky and dark blue stripes across its body. | |
| The E-11A’s mission in Afghanistan is essentially a flying radio tower that helps transmit communications between ground units and commanders, which is often a challenge in mountainous and rugged terrain. | |
| “It’s like Wi-Fi in the sky,” a pilot told the Air Force news service in 2018. All E-11As with that payload are operated solely out of Kandahar Airfield, according to the Air Force. | |
| Its payload was developed after radio communication problems contributed to the disastrous Operation Red Wings mission in 2005, when a team of Navy SEALs was attacked by a massive Taliban force in rugged Konar province. | |
| Three SEALs were killed, and 16 Special Operations troops died when their helicopter was shot down on a rescue mission. The mission was later popularized in the book and film “Lone Survivor.” | |
| Ghazni is a particularly volatile province in Afghanistan, with Taliban forces controlling or contesting several of its districts. In 2018, a Taliban-claimed roadside bomb in Ghazni killed three American troops. | Ghazni is a particularly volatile province in Afghanistan, with Taliban forces controlling or contesting several of its districts. In 2018, a Taliban-claimed roadside bomb in Ghazni killed three American troops. |
| The conflict in Afghanistan has intensified in recent months as U.S. and Taliban negotiators have sought to reach an agreement on a peace deal that would allow for the withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops from the country. | The conflict in Afghanistan has intensified in recent months as U.S. and Taliban negotiators have sought to reach an agreement on a peace deal that would allow for the withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops from the country. |
| There are around 13,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, according to the American military command in Kabul. | There are around 13,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, according to the American military command in Kabul. |
| U.S. negotiators are asking the Taliban for a reduction in violence before peace talks can formally resume. Taliban leadership has submitted a violence-reduction proposal, but talks remain stalled. | |
| George reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. Alex Horton in Washington and Sharif Hassan in Kabul contributed to this report. | |
| U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan departs as Taliban peace efforts remain stalled | U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan departs as Taliban peace efforts remain stalled |
| The Afghanistan papers: A secret history of the war | The Afghanistan papers: A secret history of the war |
| Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world | Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world |
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