A cargo plane carrying top leaders of Afghanistan's anti-Taliban coalition, including the group's new prime minister, crashed Friday, killing everyone on board, a coalition spokesman said.
At least seven top officials with the northern-based alliance, including newly appointed Prime Minister Abdul Rahim Ghafurzai, died in the crash in Bamyan, 90 miles northwest of the Afghan capital, Kabul."It was a short runway and the plane skidded off the end," the spokesman, Abdullah, told The Associated Press by satellite telephone. "All the people on board were killed on the spot."
It was not immediately clear how many passengers were on the plane. Neither ousted military chief Ahmed Shah Massood nor Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum, both coalition leaders, were on board, Abdullah said.
Ghafurzai was appointed prime minister within recent weeks by leaders of the northern alliance, which controls the northern third of Afghanistan.
His appointment came after weeks of debate between the tenuously allied northern commanders. The former prime minister, Gulb-bud-in Hekmatyar, has been living in Iran since soon after the Taliban ousted his government from Kabul in September.
Abdullah said it was too early to name a replacement for Ghafurzai.
Forces trying to oust the Taliban religious army from the Afghan capital dropped three bombs on the city's airport today.
Residents of the neighborhood surrounding the airport said two women waiting at a bus stop were slightly injured by shrapnel. No other casualties were reported.
Taliban guards would not allow reporters into airport grounds, so the extent of the damage was unclear. The guards denied the airport had been bombed, and Taliban officials were not immediately available for comment.