Jalalabad, Afghanistan: A US military transport plane crashed in eastern Afghanistan Friday, 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. NATO said it was still investigating the cause of Friday's crash of a C-130 military transport plane near Jalalabad in the east of the country.
US Army Colonel Brian Tribus said the crash, which occurred at about midnight local time on Friday (1930 GMT Thursday), left six US soldiers and five civilian contractors dead. 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 told AFP: "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 counter-claim by the Afghan government and the Taliban over who was in control.
However residents told AFP Friday morning 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," Zabihullah, a Kunduz resident who goes by one name, told AFP. "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, also told AFP there were no sounds of gunfire or explosions in the city Friday 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."