Plane crashes in Taliban-held area in Afghanistan
It is unclear to which airline the plane belonged. Afghanistan’s second vice president said that it was a plane owned by country’s national carrier, Ariana Afghan Airlines, while Ariana denied the reports.
A plane has crashed in an area controlled by the Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan, according to the country’s Civil Aviation Authority.
It is unclear to which airline the plane belonged. Afghanistan’s second Vice President, Sarwar Danish, said at an event in Kabul that a passenger plane owned by country’s national carrier, Ariana Afghan Airlines, crashed in the Deh Yak district of Ghazni province. However Ariana denied reports one of its planes was involved and said it was operating as normal.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Mohammad Naeem Salehi said by phone the crash occurred around 1:00 p.m. Monday. He could not provide further information as the agency was still looking into the incident.
The crash occurred as the plane was flying between Kandahar and the capital Kabul, said Adam Khan Sirat, a police spokesman of Ghazni province, by phone. Rescue teams have been dispatched to the area and the casualties are not yet known, he added.
No other details were immediately available.
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