29 Killed as Guerrillas Down Soviet-Made Plane, Kabul Says

Afghan guerrillas firing a surface-to-air missile shot down a Soviet-built passenger plane near the Soviet border in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing all 29 people aboard, Afghan government radio reported.

Radio Kabul, monitored in Islamabad, said the Antonov 26 passenger plane carrying 23 passengers and six crew members was on a domestic flight from Maimana, in Afghanistan’s northwestern Faryab province, to Mazar Sharif, in Balkh province. The cities are about 145 miles apart.

The report said the dead included eight women and two children. It did not say whether the plane was a Soviet transport or a civilian airliner of the domestic Bakhtar airline. Both fly the Antonov 26.

The Afghan airline also has been known to carry commercial passengers in planes with military markings.

The reported downing comes three days after the United Nations announced an agreement to end the war between Muslim guerrillas and Afghanistan’s Soviet-backed government and clear the way for the removal of Soviet troops, which number about 115,000.

On Friday, Kremlin leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev confirmed that his country’s troops will begin withdrawing on May 15 as part of that agreement, which is expected to be signed in Geneva this week.

Rebels Excluded

However, the talks excluded the Afghan resistance, which demanded direct negotiations with Moscow. The guerrillas have said they will continue to fight the Kabul government until it is deposed.

Radio Kabul, quoting Afghanistan’s official news agency, said the guerrillas attacked with anti-aircraft missiles.

There was no immediate comment from the guerrillas on the radio report, which was confirmed by the official Soviet news agency Tass.