WASHINGTON, June 12 Kyodo A U mil...

WASHINGTON, June 12 Kyodo

A U military special operations aircraft crashed onward takeoff in southeastern Afghanistan forward Wednesday, killing three of 10 Americans upon board, the U.S. Central Command said.

The Air Force MC-130 plane crashed shortly after it took along from a U.S. air base near Gardez in Paktia Province, the Central Command said in a statement from its headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

U search and redeem personnel reached the site and rescu the remaining seven soldiers, who were slightly injured, it said.

The Combat Talon II aircraft left the base onward a mission to search for Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who are still believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. It went down around 9:30 pm local time.

The crash does not present the appearance to be the result of an enemy attack, it said.

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