A US military transport plane crashed in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 11 people, including six NATO soldiers in a fresh setback after the emboldened Taliban briefly seized the city of Kunduz.
The Taliban’s offensive in the northern provincial capital, their biggest tactical success since 2001, marks a blow for Afghanistan’s NATO-trained forces, who have largely been fighting on their own since December last year.
NATO said it was still investigating the cause of the crash of a C-130 military transport plane near Jalalabad. US Army Colonel Brian Tribus said the crash, which occurred at about midnight, left six US soldiers and five civilian contractors dead.
Photo: AFP
The contractors had been working for “Resolute Support,” the NATO-led training mission.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed on Twitter that the insurgents had shot the plane down.
However, US Major Tony Wickman said: “With a high degree of confidence I can say that an enemy attack did not contribute to the crash. It is under investigation.”
The Taliban regularly claim to have shot down military aircraft. The crash came as Amnesty International condemned the insurgents’ “reign of terror” in Kunduz, which fell to the militants five days ago in a lightning strike.
A limited picture has emerged of conditions in the city following claim and counterclaim by the Afghan government and the Taliban over who was in control.
However, residents yesterday morning said that the fighting appeared to have ceased.
“You won’t see anyone in the streets, the shops are closed, and there is no fighting between the Taliban and government forces,” said Zabihullah, a Kunduz resident who goes by one name.
“Yesterday, some people were partially injured in the fighting inside the city,” he said. “They were minor injuries and they were afraid to leave their homes to go to hospital because of Taliban gunfire and attacks.”
Food is short and there is no electricity, he said.
Shahir, a resident who also goes by one name, said that there were no sounds of gunfire or explosions in the city yesterday morning.
However, he added: “We can not move from our houses and walk in the streets because the Taliban have taken positions in tall buildings; they are firing on everyone, civilians and military.”
Journalists were invited to travel with Afghan troops into the center of Kunduz on Thursday, but after a long wait at a base near the city they were told they had to return to Kabul.
Amnesty International cited civilian testimonies of mass murder, gang rapes and house-to-house searches by militant death squads.
The report, which cited rights activists, claimed militants had a “hit list” and were using young boys to help conduct house-to-house searches to track down their targets, especially women.
Precise losses in the fighting are not known, but about 60 people have been killed and 400 injured in the fighting in the province, health ministry official Wahidullah Mayar said on Twitter.
On Thursday, medical charity Doctors Without Borders said the wounded included 64 children, adding that its trauma center in Kunduz has been operating “beyond capacity.”
Jalalabad is situated on a key route from the Pakistani border region to Kabul, and it has been the scene of repeated attacks in recent years. Its airport is home to a major military base and has come under attack on several previous occasions.
The C-130 Hercules is a cargo plane used extensively by the military to ship troops and heavy gear. It can take off and land on rough, dirt strips and is widely used by the US military in hostile areas.
Most NATO combat troops pulled out of Afghanistan last year, but a small contingent focused on training and counterterrorism operations remains, including about 10,000 US soldiers.
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