Cargo plane crashes near Kabul

A cargo plane has crashed into mountains near the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing all eight people on board, a local civil aviation official said. The C-130 plane was reportedly transporting goods for Nato when it crashed on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera’s Sue Turton, reporting from Kabul, said “flight 662 was flying from Bagram airbase to Kabul, bringing logistical supplies for Nato.
“The crew of eight people is believed to be a mixture of US and African nationals.”
“There is no sign that the flight was brought down by Taliban fighters. From what we are hearing from our sources, it sounded more like an accident,” she said.
A spokesman for Nato-led forces in Afghanistan confirmed there had been a plane crash but he had no details on how many people were on board the plane.
Afghan and international forces have set out on a search and rescue mission to the area of the crash.
A police official initially said that a passenger plane had crashed.
Kabul’s international airport is busy with civilian and military aircraft involved in Nato and UN operations, as well as commercial passenger and cargo flights.

Helicopter explosion

Earlier on Tuesday, at least one person was killed in an explosion inside a US helicopter shortly after it landed at a military outpost in eastern Afghanistan, military officials said.
The US-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said in a statement that the cause of the explosion was unclear and that 26 people had been on board the aircraft.
Isaf initially announced that 10 troops were wounded in the incident and two people were killed, but a spokesman later revised the casualty figures.
“Operational reporting is very fluid. You’ve got to understand that we’re trying to get all the facts,” the spokesman told the AFP news agency.
“There are seven wounded and one killed in action. It is up to respective governments to release the killed in action. The seven wounded are Isaf personnel.”
Another Isaf spokesman identified the aircraft as a US-made Chinook, and said that the landing site had been secured by Afghan and Nato soldiers.
Eastern Afghanistan is one of the most volatile parts of the country, where the Taliban and other anti-government groups have a strong presence.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies