Afghanistan: Three killed in Black Hawk helicopter crash during Taliban training

The Taliban-backed defense ministry in Afghanistan said over the weekend that the Black Hawk helicopter it was using for its training exercise crashed in the capital Kabul. Three were killed in the training drills.

The Taliban’s defense ministry said Saturday that a US-made Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Kabul, killing three people during the group’s training exercise. Five people were also injured in the accident that took place on the campus of the National Defense University.

“An American Black Hawk helicopter which was flown…for training crashed due to a technical problem inside the campus of the National Defense University,” said defense ministry spokesperson Enaytullah Khowrazmi.

After retaking control of Afghanistan last year after the US withdrawal, the insurgent group seized some US-made aircraft. It is unclear how many aircraft are still operational as prior to the withdrawal, US forces destroyed some military hardware, and Afghan forces flew some helicopters to central Asian countries.

On the same day, dozens of Afghan girls took to the streets in Pakita province to protest against the Taliban’s move to shut down their schools only days after classes resumed, according to news outlets and local media.

An estimated three million Afghan girls were shut out of school for about a year to this day due to the insurgent group’s restrictions against women and girls.

The Taliban has walked back on its pledge to uphold the rights of women and girls to go to school and work. The group has imposed restrictions on women’s rights, similar to its hardline stance when it first ruled Afghanistan when women were barred from education and were barred from public life.

The closure of schools in the eastern province contradicts of the comments of a senior Taliban leader to Al Jazeera last month, saying that Islam grants women the right to education and work and that the group was working to create a “safe environment” for women and girls.

Taliban officials said the ban was a “technical issue” and classes would resume in accordance with a curriculum based on Islamic rules. Only a few public schools continued to operate after the insurgent group regained control of the country after pressure from local leaders and families.