Cargo plane crashes into Afghan mountains

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A Russian cargo plane crashed into treacherous mountains in eastern Afghanistan overnight and casualties were feared, with reports indicating eight people were on board, senior officials said on Wednesday.

Transport and interior ministry officials said the plane was chartered by NATO's International Security Assistance Force but a spokesman for the military said it was not yet clear who had been running the flight.

"A cargo plane crashed in the Siagird area of Ghorband district of Parwan province last night. The plane was a Russian IL-76 cargo plane chartered by ISAF," a senior interior ministry official told AFP.

He said initial reports indicated that the plane had eight crew members but investigations were ongoing. Their nationalities were also unclear.

Transport ministry spokesman Nangyalai Qalatwal confirmed the crash in the Shakar Dara mountains, around 70 kilometres (40 miles) north of the capital Kabul, and said it was chartered by the military.

An airport official, speaking anonymously, also confirmed it was an IL-76 cargo plane. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear with no adverse weather or reports of fighting in the area overnight.

ISAF spokesman Major Tim James said the crash site was at an altitude of 12,500 feet (3,800 metres), which could complicate rescue and recovery attempts. There was no immediate information on casualties.

"This is an aircraft crashed on Afghan sovereign soil. This has nothing to do with ISAF," he said, later adding: "We are trying to find out if it was chartered by ISAF."

James said there were no reports of combat in the area at the time. The US-led NATO force backs Afghan government security forces in fighting a 10-year Taliban insurgency that has been concentrated in the east and south.

"There's an ongoing Afghan operation to secure the site. There were no reports of any enemy activity in the vicinity at the time of the crash," James said.

Aviation disasters are relatively rare in Afghanistan, where travel by road through vast and remote terrain can be hazardous due to the Taliban insurgency.

Last October, a cargo plane carrying goods on behalf of ISAF and operating for a US-based company crashed into mountains just outside the Afghan capital, killing all eight crew on board.

In May 2010, an Afghan commercial Pamir Airways passenger plane carrying 43 people also crashed in mountains outside Kabul, killing all on board.

In February 2005, a Boeing 737 operated by private company Kam Air crashed in the mountains on the outskirts of Kabul during heavy snow. There were 104 people on board, including two dozen foreigners. There were no survivors.