U.S.-backed Afghan forces unable to reach site of U.S. surveillance plane that crashed in Taliban territory - The Washington Post

Saifullah Maftoon AP The wreckage of a U.S. military aircraft that crashed in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, is seen Monday, Jan. 27, 2020.

KABUL — U.S.-backed Afghan forces have been unable to reach the site of an American surveillance plane that went down in an area under Taliban control, Afghan officials said Tuesday. U.S. officials have not said how many people were on board or whether there were survivors.

Afghan officials said bad weather and heavily mined roads have prevented a special forces unit from reaching the site more than 24 hours after the crash was first reported.

“The site of the crash is insecure,” Wahidullah Kaleemzai, Ghazni’s provincial governor, told The Washington Post by phone Tuesday.

“Helicopters and drones flew above the site last night but could not land. We are doing what we can today jointly,” he said, referring to joint U.S. and Afghan military operations.

The U.S. military command confirmed the crash Monday of a U.S. Air Force Bombardier E-11A and said the cause is “under investigation,” according to a statement from Col. Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Twitter accounts linked to the Taliban shared video on Jan. 27 showing the wreckage of an alleged U.S. Air Force E-11A aircraft. The video was shared after reports of a plane crash in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province.

Leggett said that “there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire.” One Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, told The Post that insurgent forces shot down the plane, but other Taliban statements Monday said the plane “crashed.”

Another local lawmaker, Hameedullah Nawroz, a member of the Ghazni provincial council, said roadside bombs placed by the Taliban on routes leading to the crash site have prevented ground forces from moving in. He said an attempted air operation last night had to be called off due to poor weather.

The crash took place in Deh Yak district, an area considered a Taliban stronghold long under the insurgents’ control. Ghazni is one of Afghanistan’s most volatile provinces, with the Taliban contesting several districts. In 2018, the insurgents overran Ghazni’s provincial capital, and that same year a Taliban-claimed roadside bomb killed three American soldiers there.

The U.S. Bombardier E-11A is an electronics surveillance aircraft that helps boost tactical communications on the battlefield. In Afghanistan, it is used to help transmit communications between ground units and commanders, which is often a challenge in the country’s mountainous and rugged terrain.

The crash occurred as peace talks between the Taliban and American negotiators remained stalled. The United States is demanding a reduction in violence before formal talks can resume. Taliban leaders offered a proposal to bring down violence earlier this month.

Sayed Mustafa

EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Afghan soldiers were unable Tuesday to reach the scene of a U.S. plane crash near Ghazni, Afghanistan, Afghan officials said.

Peace talks have brought with them an intensification of the conflict in Afghanistan in recent months, as U.S. and Taliban negotiators have sought to leverage battlefield victories. A peace agreement would include the withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops from the country.

There are about 13,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. military command in Kabul. At the war's height in 2010 and 2011, there were more than 100,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, a roadside bomb attack in Kandahar province left two U.S. service members dead and two wounded. Last year, 20 U.S. troops were killed in Afghanistan, more than any other year since 2014.

George reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. Sayed Salahuddin in Kabul contributed to this report.

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2020-01-28 11:14:00Z
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