Plane Went Down In Ghazni Province Monday

An airplane believed to be a U.S. military electronic surveillance aircraft has goine down in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan, according to the Taliban and an Afghan journalist.

USA Today reports that the U.S. Army declined to comment on the claim made by the Taliban and journalist Tariq Ghazniwal. Video that is being widely viewed on the Internet reportedly supplied by Ghazniwal appear to show an aircraft with U.S. military markings. There is no confirmed report as to the condition of the crew.

Ghazniwal said the plane went down about 6.2 miles from a U.S. military base. The area where the plane went down is entirely under the control of the Taliban.

U.S. Central Command spokeswoman Army Maj. Beth Riordan acknowledged that the military is investigating reports of such an accident, but would not comment further.

The pictures appearing on social media suggest that the aircraft might be a Bombardier E-11 aircraft, which is used for electronic surveillance over Afghanistan. Those images show registration numbers on the plane that match the registration of U.S. Air Force E-11A airplanes.

One of the missions of the E-11A is to carry equipment that can be used to extend the range of radio signals, and connect devices, such as a radio to a telephone.

(Stock image provided by the U.S. Air Force)

FMI: Source report