KABUL/WASHINGTON--The U.S. military said on Monday an E-11A aircraft crashed in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, but disputed claims that the Taliban had brought the military plane down.
Senior Afghan officials told Reuters the authorities had rushed local personnel to locate and identify the wreckage, in a mountainous area partly controlled by the Taliban. "While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire," a U.S. military spokesman, Colonel Sonny Leggett, said in a statement.
The military aircraft, built by Bombardier Inc, is used to provide communication capabilities in remote locations. The crash comes as the Taliban and United States have been in talks on ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan.
Trump has long called for an end to U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, which began with a U.S. invasion triggered by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that al Qaeda launched from then Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Negotiations between the two sides began last year in Doha but have been interrupted at least twice after Taliban attacks on U.S. military personnel in September and December.
Last week, another round of talks kicked off with U.S. Special Representative on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad meeting repeatedly with the Taliban’s chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
The military did not say how many were on board or if anyone was killed. U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that fewer than five people were on the plane when it crashed. One official said that, according to initial information, at least two people were on the plane.
