• Officials: Seven died in US cargo plane crash in Afghanistan

    Officials say video appears to show a cargo plane that crashed in Afghanistan on Monday, killing seven people. Warning: Some viewers may find this video disturbing.

    By Kiko Itasaka and Akbar Shinwari, NBC News

    KABUL, Afghanistan — Seven people were killed when a U.S.-run civilian cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff at Bagram Airfield outside of Kabul, officials said on Tuesday.

    A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) added that the cause of Monday's crash was unknown, but dismissed Taliban claims of responsibility, saying there were no reports of "enemy activity" around the base.

    ISAF did not release details on the nationalities of those killed, referring questions to National Air Cargo, the company running the flight.

    National Air Cargo officials were not immediately available for comment. 

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

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    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

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    The Taliban claimed in a statement on Monday that it had shot down an American plane. It said the alleged downing of the plane was part of its spring offensive, which began Sunday and which the Taliban pledged would be "monumental.”

    On Monday, ISAF's Lt. Quenton Roehricht said the plane had crashed "very shortly" after taking off at about 3 p.m. local time (6:30 a.m. ET).

    The cargo plane crash came two days after four U.S. service members were killed when their surveillance aircraft in southern Afghanistan went down in bad weather. 

    NBC News' F. Brinley Bruton and Reuters contributed to this report.

    Related:

    The Taliban has issued a warning that it will increase attacks on foreign military forces in Afghanistan. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

     

    93 comments

    And we are still over there why ??

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  • Officials: Cargo plane crashes at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan

    By Kiko Itasaka and Akbar Shinwari, NBC News

    KABUL, Afghanistan -- A civilian cargo plane crashed at Bagram Airfield on Monday, officials said.

    Lt. Quenton Roehricht, of the International Security Assistance Force, said the plane developed some kind of problem "very shortly" after taking off and crashed at about 3 p.m. local time (6:30 a.m. ET).

    "At this time, we can confirm there was no insurgent activity when contact was lost," he said.

    The Taliban has issued a warning that it will increase attacks on foreign military forces in Afghanistan. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

    Roehricht said information was still being gathered and he was not able to confirm whether there had been any casualties or what might have caused the crash.

    Zamaray Khan, a local police chief, said there was a large fire after the plane crashed and it appeared that the crew members had been killed.

    The Taliban claimed in a statement that it had shot down an American plane at 4 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. ET).

    It said the alleged downing of the plane was part of its spring offensive, which began Sunday and which the Taliban pledged would be "monumental.”

    The Taliban is known for employing bombastic language in describing its achievements, and its claims are frequently invalidated or unproved.

    At least three police officers were killed by a bomb in Ghazni province in the east of the country on Sunday.

    NBC News' Ian Johnston contributed to this report.

    Related:

    Taliban marks start of 'monumental' spring offensive with deadly attack

    Plane crash kills four American service members in Afghanistan

    This story was originally published on Mon Apr 29, 2013 9:21 AM EDT

  • Pirates kill captain, chief engineer in Nigeria ship attack

    By msnbc.com news services

    LAGOS, Nigeria -- Pirates off Nigeria's coast attacked a cargo ship Monday, killings its captain and chief engineer in the increasingly dangerous waters of the Gulf of Guinea on the west coast of Africa, officials said.

    "All crew except the bridge team took shelter in the citadel. Due to the continuous firing the captain and the chief engineer were shot," a notice on the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) official said.

    The captain and chief engineer died of their wounds as the pirates sprayed the ship with gunfire, said Cyrus Mody, an official at the bureau.

    Mody said the bureau had yet to receive additional information about the ship and its crew, though they did contact authorities in Nigeria. A spokesman for Nigeria's navy and the nation's maritime safety agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

    The killings come as another ship nearby was attacked this weekend and pirates hijacked a tanker ship off the coast of neighboring Benin on Thursday, according to the maritime bureau.

    Pirates off the coast of Nigeria tend to raid ships for cash and cargo rather than hijacking the crews for ransom like their counterparts off the coast of Somalia.

    The frequency of attacks, while not as high as off the Somali coast or surrounding Indian Ocean, is on the rise.

    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.