Plane that crashed in Afghanistan was a Moroccan air ambulance not Indian, no report on casualties yet

On Saturday night (Jan 20), an aircraft crashed in Afghanistan's northeast Badakhshan province, as reported by Afghan media. Subsequently, a Taliban official confirmed the crash but stated that the plane's origin could not be immediately verified. Later confirmation revealed that the crashed aircraft was a small Moroccan aircraft. There is no report on casualties yet.

It was a Moroccan-registered air ambulance which lost its way due to a technical fault and crashed. According to the Aviation Ministry, it was going from Thailand to Moscow. It had filled fuel from Gaya airport in Bihar.

Initially, Afghanistan-based media publications incorrectly identified the plane as of Indian origin, en route to Moscow. Indian authorities promptly clarified that none of India's regular flights operated on that route. 

After confirming it was neither an Indian Scheduled Aircraft nor a Non-Scheduled/Charter aircraft, the Ministry of Civil Aviation stated that the plane did not belong to India. Importantly, no Indian aircraft had been flying through Afghan airspace since the Taliban assumed power in the country.

Zabihullah Amiri, spokesperson for the Badakhshan Information Department, informed that a team has been dispatched to the crash site to investigate the incident.