WAHINGTON – US responds over reports of shooting down of Military plane inAfghanistan that killed five officials.
Taliban spokesman claims the group has shot down a US military aircraftover eastern Afghanistan.
The US military said on Monday it was investigating reports of a crash inTaliban-controlled territory.
Footage purportedly taken from the snowy wreckage site showed the US airforce insignia on the charred fuselage.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement postedonline: “An American invader aircraft has been shot down. Lots of officershave been killed.”
He claimed high-ranking CIA officers had been onboard the plane. Neitherthe footage nor his claims could be verified.
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In separate comments, Mujahid told the Guardian the purported shoot-down“has no impact” on the ongoing negotiations over the US withdrawal fromAfghanistan. “No agreement has been reached yet and Americans arecontinuing their attacks too.”
Tariq Ghazniwal, a local journalist, said he saw two bodies but others hadcounted a total of five.
The aircraft in the footage appeared to show a US air force E-11Battlefield Airborne Communications Node. It has been described by the airforce as “Wi-Fi in the sky”, a roving communications satellite to supportmissions in remote areas without existing infrastructure.
The Taliban have occasionally been reported to have access to anti-aircraftweapons, including cases where they fired Stinger missileslinkofthe kind supplied to the rebels by the CIA during the 1980s Russianoccupation.
