Local reporters in Ghazni report they saw at least two bodies at the site but other claim to have seen as many as five. One reporter also claimed that a high-ranking CIA member was among those killed. However so far there has been no confirmation of that claim.
A Taliban spokesperson said in an online statement: “An American invader aircraft has been shot down. Lots of officers have been killed.” He also claimed that high-ranking CIA officiers had been on the plane but there has been no independent confirmation of this. There are some reports in Gaza that although two were killed Taliban fighters were searching the nearest village for survivors.
A recent Digital Journal article reports that two bodies have been recovered from the crash site: ” “US forces recovered the remains of two personnel from the site,” the US military said in a statement.”The remains were found near the crash site, treated with dignity and respect by the local Afghan community, in accordance with their culture,” the statement said.” I gather that the Afghans must have buried the two. The black box was also said to be recovered.
US confirms crash
It took more than 10 hours for the US response. Col. William Leggett, spokesman for the U.S. forces in Afghanistan tweeted:”While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire. We will provide additional information as it becomes available.” He denied reports that there had been more than one crash. The US has said that they will investigate the matter.
.The Air Force E-11A
A recent article briefly the plane: “The E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node has been described by the US air force as “wifi in the sky”, a roving communications satellite to support missions in remote areas without existing infrastructure.”
It is a communications plane whose primary use is to extend radio signals and other communications to US troops on the ground. Officials claim that the planes are constantly in the sky over such areas controlled by the Taliban and so offer appealing targets as the Taliban obtains more sophisticated weapons.
US Afghan air war appears to be heating up
During last year there were more munitions dropped on Afghanistan than in the last decade: “According to Air Forces Central Command’s airpower statistics, U.S. aircraft dropped 7,423 munitions across 2,434 sorties as part of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and NATO’s Resolute Support mission, and increase over the 7,362 weapons released across 966 sorties in 2018.Those weapons releases eclipse the 5,100 and 5,411 munitions released across 2,517 and 2,678 sorties in 2010 and 2011, respectively, the height of the U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan that occurred under the President Barack Obama.”
