"Not Indian": Government's Clarification After Plane Crash In Afghanistan

A plane that crashed in Afghanistan this morning is not an Indian aircraft, the government said today after Afghan local media reported the passenger plane was believed to be flying from Delhi to Moscow.

"The unfortunate plane crash that has just occurred in Afghanistan is neither an Indian scheduled aircraft nor a non-scheduled (NSOP)/charter aircraft. It is a Moroccan registered small aircraft. More details are awaited," the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The unfortunate plane crash that has just occurred in Afghanistan is neither an Indian Scheduled Aircraft nor a Non Scheduled (NSOP)/Charter aircraft. It is a Moroccan registered small aircraft. More details are awaited. — MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) January 21, 2024

Russian aviation authorities said today a Russian-registered plane with six people thought to be on board disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan the previous night, after local Afghan police said they had received reports of a crash.

Russian aviation authorities said in a statement the plane was a charter ambulance flight travelling from India, via Uzbekistan to Moscow on a French-made Dassault Falcon 10 jet manufactured in 1978, news agency Reuters reported.

The aircraft crashed in Badakhshan province, which borders China, Tajikistan and Pakistan but the exact site of the accident was unknown, news agency AFP reported quoting a local official.

"The plane has crashed, but the location is not known yet. We have sent teams, but they have not arrived yet," Zabihullah Amiri, head of the provincial information department, told AFP, without giving further details. "We were informed by local people in the morning."

The Hindu Kush mountain range cuts through the province, which is home to Afghanistan's highest mountain, Mount Noshaq at 7,492 metres high.

With inputs from AFP and Reuters