Uzbekistan confirms shooting down Afghanistan Air Force jet to prevent 'illegal crossing'

Update: Update: As per global media, which quoted the Uzbek Defence Ministry, the Afghan military jet was shot down by its defence forces. This step was taken to stop "illegal crossing", it added.

On Monday, The Defense Ministry of Uzbekistan confirmed that an Afghan Air Force plane crashed in the border area, and it is studying the details of the incident. Earlier, media reports suggested that the plane went down on Sunday evening in Uzbekistan's southernmost Surxondaryo province, not far from the border with Afghanistan. In the crash, one person is reportedly injured. The Defense Ministry of Uzbekistan told a Russian news agency that it is conducting the analysis using videos and media reports online.

"Indeed, an Afghan Air Force plane crashed the other day in the Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan. Currently, the details of the incident are being studied and the relevant information will be reported later," Defense spokesman Bakhrom Zulfikarov told TASS.

The Gazeta.uz had earlier reported that an aircraft with identification signs of the Afghan force went down in the Sherabad district on August 15 evening.

In another development, on Sunday, Uzbekistan said that it had detained 84 Afghan soldiers who have crossed the border. The Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said that the detained troops were provided with food, temporary shelter and medical treatment. According to sources, 28 passenger flights from Kabul has landed in Termez city in Uzbekistan. Most of the passengers were airport employees, sources said. 

Chaos at Kabul airport as Taliban recaptures Afghanistan

The Taliban has swept into the Afghanistan capital, Kabul, on Monday as thousands of civilians mobbed the city's airport in an attempt to flee the extremists' hardline brand of rule. President Ashraf Ghani has also fled the country and has reportedly resigned from the top post. Many civilians have been reportedly killed at the capital's Hamid Karzai International airport after US troops opened fire, TOLOnews reported. The Afghan airspace has been shut, with all commercial flights being suspended. 

Earlier in the day, visuals of the Kabul airport shows complete chaos as frantic civilians attempted to flee Afghanistan. Meanwhile, many nations, including the UK, the US, Germany and Canada, are evacuating their diplomats and citizens. Amid this, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has called an emergency meeting to discuss the deteriorating situation in the war-ravaged country.

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