At least 11 dead, including 6 U.S. troops, in Afghanistan plane crash

A C-130J transport plane takes off in Jordan — (Image credit: CC by: U.S. Air Force)

Shortly after midnight in Afghanistan on Friday, a U.S. Air Force C-130J transport plane crashed soon after taking off from Jalalabad Airfield, killing all six U.S. service members and five civilian contractors on board, the U.S. military said. The 455th Air Expeditionary Wing at Bagram Airfield called the crash "an accident" in a statement, without elaborating, but a U.S. official told The Associated Press that there were no signs of hostile fire. The cause of the crash is still under investigation, and a military spokesman wouldn't rule out the possibility that more dead or wounded will be found at the crash site. There are about 1,000 U.S.-led coalition troops in eastern Afghanistan and another 8,000 elsewhere in the country.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.