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US-Afghan Army Convoy Fires Flares, Hits Drivers on Road

Afghans march in convoy with cars decorated with black flags and portraits of late Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud marking the 18th anniversary of his death, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Afghans march in convoy with cars decorated with black flags and portraits of late Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud marking the 18th anniversary of his death, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
    Asharq Al-Awsat
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US-Afghan Army Convoy Fires Flares, Hits Drivers on Road

Afghans march in convoy with cars decorated with black flags and portraits of late Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud marking the 18th anniversary of his death, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Afghans march in convoy with cars decorated with black flags and portraits of late Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud marking the 18th anniversary of his death, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

A local witness and the US mission in Afghanistan said a joint US-Afghan military convoy has fired flares at several civilian vehicles, causing the cars to catch fire and injuries.

The US forces statement on Saturday said that the US troops released flares as a deterrent after making several attempts to wave the drivers off the road, but didn't aim at the vehicles.

It said the US forces were trying to stop the vehicles from approaching the military convoy in eastern Laghman province Friday night, the Associated Press reported.

Imad Dawran, a witness to the incident, said he was waiting for the convoy to pass, but suddenly he received flare shots that caused him minor injuries and hit his car.

He said he also saw at least two other vehicles on fire on the road.

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DHL Cargo Plane Crashes into a House in Lithuania, Killing at Least 1

A Lithuanian rescuer walks past the wreckage of a cargo plane following its crash near the Vilnius International Airport in Vilnius on November 25, 2024. (Photo by Petras MALUKAS / AFP)
A Lithuanian rescuer walks past the wreckage of a cargo plane following its crash near the Vilnius International Airport in Vilnius on November 25, 2024. (Photo by Petras MALUKAS / AFP)
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DHL Cargo Plane Crashes into a House in Lithuania, Killing at Least 1

A Lithuanian rescuer walks past the wreckage of a cargo plane following its crash near the Vilnius International Airport in Vilnius on November 25, 2024. (Photo by Petras MALUKAS / AFP)
A Lithuanian rescuer walks past the wreckage of a cargo plane following its crash near the Vilnius International Airport in Vilnius on November 25, 2024. (Photo by Petras MALUKAS / AFP)

A DHL cargo plane crashed into a house Monday morning near Lithuania's capital, killing at least one person.
The head of the country's police said the plane crashed shortly before landing at Vilnius airport.
“It fell a few kilometers before the airport, it just skidded for a few hundred meters, its debris somewhat caught a residential house," said Police Commissioner-General Renatas Požėla. "Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people.”
Lithuanian’s public broadcaster LRT, quoting an emergency official, said two people had been taken to the hospital after the crash, and one was later pronounced dead.
The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a DHL cargo plane arriving from Leipzig, Germany. It posted on the social platform X that city services including a fire truck were on site.
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24, analyzed by The Associated Press, showed the aircraft made a turn to the north of the airport, lining up for landing, before crashing a little more than 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) short of the runway.
Authorities did not immediately offer a cause for the crash, which happened just before 5:30 a.m local time. Weather at the airport was around freezing temperature, with clouds before sunrise and winds around 30 kph (18 mph).
DHL Group, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, did not immediately return a call for comment.
The DHL aircraft was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor. The carrier could not be immediately reached.
The Boeing 737 was 31 years old, which is considered by experts to be an older airframe, though that’s not unusual for cargo flights.