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Taliban claims they shot down US air force plane in Afghanistan

Ryw

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Afghanistan:- Taliban claims they shot down US air force plane

Spokesman claims high-ranking CIA officers were on plane that crashed in eastern Afghanistan

A Taliban spokesman claims the group has shot down a US military aircraft over eastern Afghanistan.

The US military said on Monday it was investigating reports of a crash in Taliban-controlled territory.

Footage purportedly taken from the snowy wreckage site showed the US air force insignia on the charred fuselage.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement posted online: “An American invader aircraft has been shot down. Lots of officers have been killed.”

He claimed high-ranking CIA officers had been onboard the plane. Neither the footage nor his claims could be verified.

In separate comments, Mujahid told the Guardian the purported shoot-down “has no impact” on the ongoing negotiations over the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. “No agreement has been reached yet and Americans are continuing their attacks too.”

Tariq Ghazniwal, a local journalist, said he saw two bodies but others had counted a total of five.

The aircraft in the footage appeared to show a US air force E-11 Battlefield Airborne Communications Node. It has been described by the air force as “Wi-Fi in the sky”, a roving communications satellite to support missions in remote areas without existing infrastructure.

The Taliban have occasionally been reported to have access to anti-aircraft weapons, including cases where they fired Stinger missiles of the kind supplied to the rebels by the CIA during the 1980s Russian occupation.

In 2007, Taliban fighters were thought to have used a shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missile to shoot down a British Chinook helicopter, killing all onboard.

The Afghan government initially said a passenger jet carrying more than 80 people had crashed, but retracted the claim a few hours later.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-air-force-plane-crash?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
 
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They denied it until the photos came out. Good chance this may have had CIA agents given it s used a reconnaissance plane.
[MENTION=132715]Varun[/MENTION] Any thoughts?

Anyway, doubt the Afghanis will shed any tears.
 
They denied it until the photos came out. Good chance this may have had CIA agents given it s used a reconnaissance plane.
[MENTION=132715]Varun[/MENTION] Any thoughts?

Anyway, doubt the Afghanis will shed any tears.

Why would Afghans cry over CIA deaths?
 
They wouldn't. Point being, deaths are usually sad, however on this occasion I can see the Afghans being a happy bunch at this news.

Hmm Taliban maybe .. if anything other Afghans will be neutral or worried, unless you think Taliban represents Afghanistan..
 
Hmm Taliban maybe .. if anything other Afghans will be neutral or worried, unless you think Taliban represents Afghanistan..

I think the vast majority are sick of US meddling. I'm sure you would agree.
 
It was a USAF ELINT E-11 and not CIA black ops aircraft. It flies above 30000 ft. Taliban do not have any kind of weapons that can target aircraft at that altitude. Most probably a malfunction.
 
They denied it until the photos came out. Good chance this may have had CIA agents given it s used a reconnaissance plane.
[MENTION=132715]Varun[/MENTION] Any thoughts?

Anyway, doubt the Afghanis will shed any tears.

An E-11 can't be taken down by rag tag militia like the Taliban. Let's wait for further news to come out - this is akin to the ISIS claiming responsibility for any random shooting in the US.
 
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