Afghan arrested after trying to kick out plane’s windows

Afghan arrested in airplane disturbance

KABUL — An Afghan man was arrested after boarding a passenger plane with a knife and trying to kick open a window while the plane was airborne, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

Nobody was hurt in the incident Sunday on an Ariana Afghan Airlines flight from Kabul to Mashhad, Iran, said Zemeri Bashary, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. Security forces on the national carrier’s plane subdued the man quickly and he was arrested when the pilot made a scheduled landing in the southern city of Kandahar, Bashary said.

The plane then continued to its destination in Iran. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board.

Authorities were still questioning the man and had not yet determined a motive.

Latifullah Taslaim, the airline’s deputy director, confirmed the incident but said the man did not board the plane with a knife. The reason behind the discrepancy with the Interior Ministry’s account was not immediately clear.

Separately, NATO reported that an MH-60 helicopter made a controlled landing after being hit Monday afternoon by enemy fire in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. All members of the crew safely returned to base. The helicopter was supporting a joint Afghan and international force assault on a targeted compound in Sangin district, and had just begun its return flight when it was struck by enemy fire, NATO said.

After landing, the crew was picked up by another aircraft and the helicopter was destroyed with close air support. Multiple enemy fighters were engaged by the combined force and several suspected militants were captured, it said.

Also Monday, heavy rain sent floodwaters tearing through villages in northeast Afghanistan, killing at least 10 people and destroying hundreds of homes, police said.

The floods overnight and early Monday tore down homes that were built into the sides of mountains in Pul-e-Khumri district in Baghlan province, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) north of Kabul, police said in a statement.

In southeastern Afghanistan, a roadside bomb struck a car Monday, killing two civilians a day after an insurgent rocket killed four other civilians, authorities said.

Monday’s bombing happened in Zabul province, said Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar, a spokesman for the provincial governor. On Sunday, an insurgent rocket — apparently fired at a NATO convoy — missed its target and hit a civilian vehicle in Helmand province, killing four people, provincial government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said.

The civilian deaths — a highly sensitive issue in Afghanistan — come as President Hamid Karzai meets Monday with American officials in Washington, with violence and insecurity high on the agenda. Karzai’s trip comes after months of rocky relations with the Obama administration.

At least 2,412 Afghan civilians were killed in fighting last year — up 14 percent from 2008, according to the United Nations. About two-thirds of the civilian deaths were a result of actions initiated by the insurgents. The percentage of civilian deaths attributed to NATO and Afghan government forces had dropped.

NATO said Monday that one of its service members died in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan. The alliance gave no further details of the attack that happened Sunday.

The death brings to 12 the number of NATO forces killed this month in Afghanistan.

The Interior Ministry also reported that a roadside bomb struck a police vehicle in Helmand Sunday, killing four officers.