US military aircraft crashes in Taliban-held territory of eastern Afghanistan

On 27 January around 13:00 local time (UTC + 4:30), an aircraft (US Air Force Bombardier E-11A registered 11-9358) crashed in eastern Afghanistan. The aircraft came down in the Deh Yak District of Ghazni province, a provincial spokesman told local media.

The plane crashed and allegedly caught fire due to technical reasons, the spokesman said, who couldn’t provide further details or give more information about any possible casualty.

Ariana, Afghanistan’s state-owned flagship carrier, issued a statement strongly denying multiple reports — including from Afghan government officials — that one of its planes had come down.

Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority also said that it had received no reports of a civilian airliner going down, raising the possibility that it was a military or cargo aircraft that crashed. And indeed, the first available pictures show a US military identification which might refer to a US Air Force Bombardier E-11A (Global Express).