Kabul (Agencies): At least eleven people were killed after an American C-130 transport plane crashed in Afghanistan, a US defense official said.
Among the dead are several US troop members and contracted civilians whose nationalities have not been disclosed, the official added.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for shooting down the C-130, according to an international news agency. However, this information has not yet been confirmed, and US authorities previously denied any hostile engagement.
Six US service members and five civilian contractors on board died in the crash, according to a US military spokesman, who did not rule out the possibility of more casualties on the ground.
At the same time, NBC reported that the plane crash claimed the lives of 12 people, including five US servicemen, five contractors, and two Afghani civilians.
A coalition spokesperson US Army Col. Brian Tribus has said the plane crashed shortly after midnight local time (3:30 p.m. ET) at Jalalabad Airport.
A four-engine turboprop aircraft, the C-130 Hercules is usually used to transport personnel and cargo.
Pentagon sources have ruled out the possibility that the C-130 which crashed was shot down, while the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing at Bagram Airfield described the crash as “an accident.”