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Afghan military plane crashes in Uzbekistan, investigation underway: Reports
“The military plane illegally crossed the border of Uzbekistan. An investigation is underway,” government spokesperson Bakhrom Zulfikarov said.
An Afghan military plane crashed in Uzbekistan’s territory, the central Asian country’s government confirmed on Monday. The Uzbek government also said that the plane had crossed the border “illegally” and the incident is currently being probed.
“The military plane illegally crossed the border of Uzbekistan. An investigation is underway,” news agency AFP quoted ministry spokesperson Bakhrom Zulfikarov as saying, earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, some news reports showed that the plane was shot down and the pilot ejected out of it. The Uzbek air defences shot the plane down as it tried to violate the border, news agency Reuters reported citing the country’s defence ministry.
“Uzbekistan's air defence forces prevented an attempt by an Afghan military aircraft to illegally cross Uzbekistan's border,” Reuters quoted spokesperson Zulfikarov as saying on Monday.
Uzbekistan is one of the many countries that share a border with the land-locked Afghanistan. The spokesperson’s comments confirmed the Uzbek media reports about a plane crash that took place late Sunday in the country’s southern province of Surkhondaryo bordering Afghanistan, AFP further reported.
Earlier on Sunday, the Uzbek news website Gazeta.uz reported that a plane with Afghan insignia crashed in the Sherabad district of Surkhandarya region and several users had shared pictures and videos of the crash on social media.
On Monday, the spokesperson also confirmed the crash to Russian news agency TASS. “Indeed, an Afghan Air Force plane crashed the other day in the Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan. Currently, the details of the incident are being studied and the relevant information will be reported later,” Zulfikarov had told TASS.
Further, Bekpulat Okboyev, a doctor in the Surkhondaryo province, said that two patients wearing Afghan military uniforms were taken in by his hospital on Sunday evening, AFP also reported. Also, one of the patients came in “with a parachute” and had suffered fractures, the doctor added.
Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry on Sunday also said that 84 Afghan servicemen crossed the border into their country seeking assistance. The ministry further said that the group, including three wounded personnel, was detained by the Uzbek guards after they crossed over and was offered food and temporary accommodation. It also said that it was in touch with the Afghan officials regarding the return of the soldiers to their home country, the Associate Press had reported.
