U.S. military plane crashes in Afghanistan

Wednesday February 13, 9:50 PM

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A U.S. military aircraft carrying eight crew crashed in Afghanistan on Wednesday but none of the crew was killed and none suffered life-threatening injuries, the U.S. military said.

The MC-130P crashed in a remote region, but neither a U.S. military spokesman at their base in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, nor a statement on the crash issued by the U.S. Central Command headquarters in Florida, said where the aircraft went down.

"Eight crew members were on board at the time of the crash. All survived and injuries are not life threatening," the Central Command statement said.

The injured crew members were taken to hospital in the region, it said.

"The cause of the crash is not known at this time, although it does not appear to be the result of hostile fire," it said.

The crash was the latest in a series involving U.S. military personnel in the region since military action was launched in October against Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and its Taliban protectors.

In early January, a U.S. military refuelling plane crashed in southwest Pakistan, killing all seven Marines on board. Two U.S. Marines were killed and five injured when their helicopter crashed in Afghan mountains on January 20.

In December, a Marine helicopter burst into flames after crashing in southern Afghanistan, injuring one Marine on board and one on the ground.

And in November a helicopter-load of elite U.S. troops crash-landed in Afghanistan after being forced down by bad weather.