WASHINGTON – Following two days of silence and reported investigation, thePentagon has confirmed that two U.S. airmen were killed in an Air Forceplane crash Monday in Afghanistan.
“The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two airmen whowere supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel,” it said in a statementreleased on Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Paul K. Voss, 46, and Capt. Ryan S. Phaneuf, 30, died Monday inthe crash of a Bombardier E-11A aircraft in Ghazni, central Afghanistan, itsaid.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
On Monday U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) spokesman Col Sonny Leggettannounced that a U.S. Air Force plane crashed in Afghanistan, withoutgiving information on casualties.
“While the cause of the crash is under investigation, there are noindications the crash was caused by enemy fire,” Leggett tweeted.
However, the Taliban claimed that its forces had shot down the U.S. plane.
Zabihullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, claimed in a statement on socialmedia, “All staff and passengers, including key officers of the CIA, havebeen killed,” posting pictures and video of a plane with apparent U.S.markings.
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Afghan officials earlier in the week had said their forces were pushed backby Taliban snipers when they tried to approach the crash site.
The controversial crash came as the U.S. and Taliban have been negotiatinga peace deal in a bid to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan.
Although criticized by the Afghan government at times, the two sides hadbeen talking for over a year and were actually on the brink of anannouncement in September 2019 when U.S. President Donald Trump suddenlyand unilaterally called of the process, citing Taliban’s killing of anAmerican soldier.
Despite ongoing peace talks in Qatar’s capital Doha, the U.S. forcesstationed in Afghanistan dropped a record number of bombs in 2019,according to a recent data by the U.S. air forces.
The U.S. military conducted 2,434 airstrikes in the war-hit country to drop7,423 bombs, marking a steady rise over 7,362 weapons released in 2018, theU.S. Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT) said in a report on Monday. -Anadolu Agency
