Azerbaijani cargo plane crashes in southern Afghanistan

A freight plane of Azerbaijan's Silk Way airline crashed on Wednesday in Afghanistan, killing seven of its nine crew, Azerbaijan's civil aviation administration said.

The plane crashed on Wednesday at 6:30 pm (1430 GMT) as it was taking off from Dwyer airport in Helmand, where a contingent of American and Afghan military forces are based.

According to Azar Tac, Azerbaijan's state news agency, five Azerbaijanis, three Ukrainians and one Uzbek were on board.

Garmser is one of the few peaceful parts of Helmand, a province where Taliban insurgents are otherwise active.

There was no word about the condition of the survivors or the cause of the crash.