No survivors in Afghan air crash

The plane was chartered by a Pakistani company

A Soviet-built cargo plane has crashed 35km (22 miles) north of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The BBC's Andrew North at the scene says there were no survivors. Eight to 10 people were on board.

The plane had been chartered by a Pakistani company to take supplies to the main US airbase at Bagram.

The cause of the crash, which occurred in the Farza area of the Shomali plains, is not yet known.

Visibility reasonable

Our correspondent says the plane was almost completely destroyed, with wreckage strewn over three blackened hills.

The plane was swaying from side to side and flying very low. There was no smoke coming from it. It then slammed into the mountain Malang, farmer

The plane was owned by a Pakistani company and had been chartered by a US company to carry supplies for the US military.

It is not clear if bad weather was a cause of the crash. There had been some rain in the area but our correspondent says visibility was reasonable.

Initial reports had said the plane was a C-130 transport plane.

Police official, Ghulam Rasool, told Associated Press "We have recovered five bodies. They are in many pieces. There is no one alive."

Isaf spokesman, Lt Col Riccardo Cristoni, said the plane had taken off from Kabul.

Afghanistan has suffered a number of air crashes this year, mostly helicopters, but a plane belonging to the private Kam Air crashed in mountains near Kabul in February, killing all 104 people on board.