US on Confusing Afghanistan Plane Crash: It Was Ours

After a flurry of confusing reports about a downed plane in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, the US military has confirmed it was a US Air Force plane that crashed. The rep for US forces in Afghanistan says the Bombardier E-11A crashed in the Ghazni province, the AP reports. US officials say there is no evidence suggesting enemy fire took down the plane; an investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.

A US military official tells Fox News there were "less than five onboard" the electronic surveillance plane. It's not clear if anyone survived the crash, but a local journalist says he saw two bodies and claims that two others may have survived. NPR, whose source says two people were on board and both died, reports that "a swarm of conflicting reports" cropped up within hours of the crash. In addition to the Taliban's claim it had shot down the plane, local Afghan officials had also initially said it was a passenger plane from Afghanistan's Ariana Airlines that crashed, but Ariana refuted that account. (More Afghanistan stories.)