TERMEZ, Uzbekistan – An Afghan military plane has crashed in Uzbekistan, the Central Asian country’s defense ministry said on Monday, confirming earlier reports.
“Military aircraft crossed the border with Uzbekistan illegally. An investigation is underway,” ministry spokesman Bakhrom Zulfikarov told AFP, confirming Uzbek media reports of the accident late Sunday in Uzbekistan’s southern province of Surkhondario, which borders Afghanistan.
Zulfikarov said the ministry would prepare a statement on the accident.
Bekpulat Okboyev, a doctor in Surkhondario province, told AFP that his hospital had admitted two patients wearing Afghan military uniforms on Sunday evening.
The doctor described one of the patients as coming “with a parachute” and said the man had suffered a fracture.
Central Asia has watched with alarm as the government of Afghanistan has fallen.
new:
An Afghan Air Force plane crashed last night in Surksondario, Uzbekistan, and two people were recovered from the plane in injured condition. He has been transferred to a medical facility by the Uzbek authorities. It is believed that they were trying to escape from Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/5TclTck3DL
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) August 16, 2021
Three former Soviet countries – Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – border the country.
On Sunday, Uzbekistan said 84 Afghan soldiers were detained while crossing the border, adding that it was negotiating with Afghans on the withdrawal of troops.
Despite billions of dollars spent by the US and NATO over nearly 20 years to build up Afghanistan’s security forces, the Taliban surprisingly captured almost the entire of Afghanistan in a week.
The Taliban broke into the Afghan capital on Sunday after the government fell, and the president joined the exodus of his fellow citizens and foreigners.
