Ghazni: US forces in helicopters recovered the remains on Tuesday of the crew killed when one of its military jets went down in a Taliban-controlled area, hours after Afghan forces trying to reach the wreckage clashed with insurgents.
The Bombardier E-11A -- used for military communications -- went down in a snowy part of eastern Afghanistan on Monday afternoon.
Ghazni police chief Khaled Wardak said that the US choppers landed at the site in the late afternoon and were reinforced by Afghan security forces on the ground during the operation.
"Following the removal of the bodies, our forces have moved back to their bases. We don't know where the foreigners have taken the bodies," added Wardak.
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Nasir Ahmad Faqiri, the head of the provincial council in Ghazni, confirmed the operation, saying the Americans took at least two bodies from the scene.
Earlier in the day, coalition forces flew sorties over the site of the crashed jet with one aircraft firing flares as a crowd gathered nearby, according to a local reporter at the scene.
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The Pentagon has confirmed the aircraft belonged to US forces, but dismissed Taliban claims it had been shot down.
US officials have not confirmed or commented on Tuesday's operation or said how many people were on board the flight when it crashed.
With inputs from PTI
