epa07413654 People make their way through snow covered way in Ghazni, Afghanistan, 04 March 2019. Afghanistan is experiencing harsh winters with temperatures falling well below freezing in many parts of the country. EPA-EFE/GHULAM MUSTAFA The three government officials said the plane was operated by Afghanistan's state-owned airline Ariana Afghan Airlines, but its acting CEO Mirwais Mirzakwal denied those reports.
"There has been an airline crash but it does not belong to Ariana because the two flights managed by Ariana today from Herat to Kabul and Herat to Delhi are safe," Mirzakwal told Reuters.
A senior official in Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office in Kabul said that a plane had crashed near Ghazni province and authorities were still seeking details.
Before Mirzakwal's denial, Arif Noori, a spokesman for the provincial governor's office in Ghazni city, had said: "A Boeing plane belonging to the Ariana Afghan Airlines, has crashed in the Sado Khel area of Deh Yak district of Ghazni province around 1:10 p.m. local time (0840 GMT)."
Reuters was not immediately able to contact Noori again.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the group was checking on reports of the plane crash. (Additional reporting by Rupam Jain, Editing by Alexandra Ulmer and Catherine Evans)