A passenger plane from Afghanistan’s Ariana Airlines crashed today in a Taliban-held area of the eastern Ghazni province, local officials say.
Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor, says the plane went down around 1:10 p.m. local time (8:40 a.m. GMT) in Deh Yak district, which is held by the Taliban. Two provincial council members also confirmed the crash.
However, Ariana Airlines tells The Associated Press that none of its planes have crashed in Afghanistan, according to Mirwais Mirzakwal, the company’s acting director. The state-owned airline also releases a statement on its website saying all its aircraft are operational and safe.
The conflicting accounts cannot immediately be reconciled. The number of people on board and their fate is not immediately known, nor is the cause of the crash.
The mountainous Ghazni province sits in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains and is bitterly cold in winter. The Taliban control or hold sway over around half the country.
— AP
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