WASHINGTON/KABUL
The United States on Tuesday recovered the remains of two personnel from
a U.S. military aircraft that crashed in Afghanistan, American and Afghan
officials told Reuters.
The wreckage of an airplane is seen after a crash in Deh Yak district of Ghazni province, Afghanistan January 27, 2020. |
On Monday, the U.S. military said an
E-11A aircraft had crashed in the province of Ghazni, but disputed claims by
the Taliban militant group that they had brought it down.
Earlier on Tuesday, Afghan forces and
Taliban fighters clashed in a central region where the U.S. military plane
crashed as the government tried to reach the wreckage site in a Taliban
stronghold.
“U.S. forces recovered the remains of
two personnel from the site where a U.S. Bombardier E-11A aircraft crashed in
Ghazni Province, Afghanistan,” a U.S. military statement said.
The statement said that the remains
were “treated with dignity and respect by the local Afghan community.”
The forces recovered what is believed
to be the flight data recorder and the destroyed remnants of the plane.
“The cause of the crash remains under
investigation, however there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy
fire,” the statement added.
A U.S. defense official, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said multiple attempts had been made to recover the
remains but they had been hampered by the terrain and weather.
The official said the aircraft had
been carrying no other individuals apart from the two service members.
Ghazni provincial police chief,
Khalid Wardak, told Reuters that two bodies were airlifted by U.S. forces from
the crash site on Tuesday.
The incident came as the Taliban and
the United States have been in talks to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan.
Trump has long called for an end to
U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, which began with an American 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.
Zabiullah
Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said Afghan forces backed by U.S. military
support had tried to capture the area around the crashed aircraft and clashed
with fighters of the Islamist militant group.
The
attempt was repelled, he told Reuters, but the Taliban would allow a rescue
team access to recover bodies from the crash site.
“Taliban
fighters on the ground counted six bodies at the site of the U.S. airplane
crash,” he said, adding that while there could have been more, the militant
group could not be certain, as fire had reduced everything to ashes.
The
crashed jet, built by Bombardier Inc, is used to provide communication
capabilities in remote locations.
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