Officials recover remains at site of U.S. military plane crash in Afghanistan
Two sets of remains have been recovered at the site where a U.S. military plane crashed in Taliban-controlled territory outside Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday, an American official said, after a day in which U.S. forces struggled to get to the site.
Nearly 10 hours after the crash, the U.S. military confirmed that the plane was one of its own: a Bombardier E-11, an advancedcommunication aircraft deployed to Afghanistan and used to help ground troops talk to U.S. aircraft overhead. The statement provided little other detail.
“While the cause of the crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire,” said Col. Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for the military in Afghanistan.
The identities of those who died have not been announced, pending notification of their relatives.
Taliban social-media accounts posted pictures and videos of what they said was an aircraft that they had shot down, but the group is known to exaggerate its claims. The plane appeared wrecked and in flames amid snow. Officials said the harsh weather and the inaccessibility of land controlled by the Taliban had made gathering information difficult.
Even after military officials said only two people were aboard, rumors of survivors continued in Ghazni.
“Now the Taliban have started searching the houses,” said Amanullah Kamrani, a member of the Ghazni provincial council. “Since this morning, they went to every single house and checked to see if the villagers were hiding Americans.”
The aircraft went down around 1 p.m. local time Monday, 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, had even expressed “condolences about their martyrdom to the people of Afghanistan.”
Further confusing the situation, reports in Iranian news and social media framed the crash as a retaliation for the death of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the powerful Iranian commander killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. Iranian news media reports went as far identifying a CIA official they said had been killed in the plane, which they said was shot down. American officials dismissed those reports.
About 12,000 American troops and thousands of NATO forces remain spread around Afghanistan. Officers from the headquarters in Kabul frequently shuttle to bases by aircraft, and surveillance planes are often deployed over battle areas.