ISAF starts inquiry into incident involving Russian airliner over Kabul - report
MOSCOW/KABUL. Jan 24 (Interfax) - The command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan has started an inquiry into an incident involving a Russian passenger airliner over Kabul, a spokesperson for ISAF told Interfax.
The ISAF command is processing relevant information, she said.
It was reported earlier with reference to a source related to the air force that a Russian Boeing 767 en route from Bali to Yekaterinburg was closely approached by a warplane over Kabul on January 22, 2013.
"A Nordwind Boeing 767 was dangerously approached by a military plane in Afghan airspace in the Kabul area at about noon GMT on Tuesday," the source said. The planes were only 100 feet from each other, and there was a chance they could have collided.
The Boeing's collision avoidance system warned the pilots about the danger. "The Russian pilot could not determine the plane's nationality or type," he said.
A high-ranking Moscow source told Interfax the warplane that approached the Boeing presumably belonged to the NATO airbase stationed in Afghanistan. "The fighter that approached the Russian Boeing had been painted in a way similar to how the NATO planes based in Afghanistan are painted. The plane had its red anti-collision flash beacons on," he said.
The NATO airbase took notice of the incident, the source said. "There was a report from the NATO base that they took notice of this information and would bear it in mind to prevent such incidents in the future," he added.
The NATO airbase in Afghanistan includes mostly U.S. Air Force planes, he said.
The Russian Embassy in Kabul said it possessed no information as to whether the fighter that approached dangerously close to the Russian Boeing belonged to the international forces deployed in Afghanistan and does not plan to probe the incident on its own.
"No official information on this account has yet been released," embassy press secretary Stepan Anikeyev said in commenting on reports that the fighter could have belonged to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
Nor does the embassy plan to address the Afghan authorities or the ISAF command for explanations on the incident, he said.
"We will surely not do this, because this is a private airline and it is its business. We do not have such practice," he said.