Plane crash kills two US troops in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON – A U.S. defense official said the United States recovered the remains of two American service members killed in the crash of an Air Force plane in Afghanistan.
They were the only two people aboard the Air Force E-11A electronic surveillance aircraft when it went down Monday in Ghazni province, the official said, speaking Tuesday on the condition of anonymity before an offi- cial announcement of the recovery. The identities of the two have not been publicly announced, pending notification of their relatives.
The official said the American recovery team met no Taliban resistance in reaching the crash site and there is no indication hostile action downed the plane.
The Taliban hold much of Ghazni province. Monday’s plane crash is not likely to derail U.S.-Taliban peace talks if the investigation determines the crash was not the result of hostile action.
The United States and the Taliban are negotiating a cease-fire to allow the signing of a peace agreement that could bring home about 13,000 American troops.
A journalist in the area, Tariq Ghazniwal, said Monday that he saw the burning aircraft. He told The Associated Press that he saw two bodies and that the front of the aircraft was badly burned, but its body and tail were hardly damaged.
The crash site is about 6.2 miles from a U.S. military base, Ghazniwal said. Taliban members were deployed to protect the crash site, he said.