The US military acknowledged the downfall of its military plane in Ghazni province (eastern Afghanistan) on Monday, while the Taliban confirmed the death of those on board.
A spokesman for the US forces in Afghanistan, Colonel Sony Legate, confirmed the crash of the E-11A Bombardier yesterday in Ghazni province, which is mostly under the control of the Taliban.
The colonel added that the causes of the accident were still under investigation, but he said that there were no indications that it was caused by hostile fire.
Reuters news agency quoted US officials as saying that the crew of the plane was composed of less than five people.
For his part, a US defense official said today that preliminary investigations indicate that the cause of the plane crash was a mechanical failure, denying what he described as the Taliban's allegations that it was shot down.
In remarks reported by Reuters today, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that the Taliban fighters had counted six bodies in the wreckage, and that they would allow a rescue team to retrieve them.
Mujahid said that the fighters of the movement repelled an attack by government forces trying to reach the site of the wreckage, while Ghazni police chief, Khaled Wardak, confirmed that his forces were ambushed by Taliban militants while they were on their way to the site.
The movement had announced that it had shot down the "tactical" plane in the village of "Sado Khilo" in the area of "De Ike", without explaining how to shoot it down.
The movement said that the plane was flying for intelligence purposes, and that all those on board were killed, but did not specify the number of casualties.
The Associated Press quoted Afghan journalist Tariq Ghazni Wa as having seen two bodies in the wreckage of the plane that was burning shortly after its crash ten kilometers from a US base in the region.
He added that local Taliban fighters had rushed to the crash site to protect him, while others went to a nearby village to search for two people believed to have survived the accident.
The Afghan journalist continued that the plane crashed yesterday at about one o'clock yesterday afternoon, and that the residents did not hear a loud bang when the accident occurred.
On social media, a video clip of the American plane circulating in flames was covered in an area covered with snow, and two men appeared near it.
It is reported that this aircraft provides support for drones, equipped with advanced communications equipment, and is operated by the forces responsible for drones in the US Army.
It was believed that after the crash of the American plane, it was an Afghan civilian aircraft, which was quickly denied.