Seven crew members of a U.S. civilian cargo plane were killed when their aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff Monday at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, according to BBC News.
While the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the crash, the NATO International Security Assistance Force denies this to be true. NATO ISAF spokesman Lt. Quenton Roehricht told NBC News:
"At this time, we can confirm there was no insurgent activity when contact was lost."
Bagram district police chief Zamarai Nasari told Stars and Stripes the plane crashed on the runway and a wing caught fire.
The Aviation Herald is reporting the downed aircraft was a National Air Cargo Boeing 747-400 freighter.
According to Stars and Stripes:
The international military coalition relies heavily on contracted aircraft to haul troops and supplies across Afghanistan, where poorly maintained roads and buried bombs make ground transport difficult and dangerous.
