KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — An U.S. Air Force transport plane crashed in a remote region of Afghanistan, injuring all eight crew members but none critically, U.S. officials said today.

In another development, Afghan authorities are negotiating the surrender of 15 Taliban leaders, who may include former Cabinet ministers, an Afghan official said. They could provide information useful in the hunt for fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

U.S. authorities also said they gathered enough remains from the site of a U.S. missile strike to do DNA tests to try to determine who was killed.

Seven of those injured in last night's crash of the MC-130P were able to walk and none of the injuries were considered life threatening, said Maj. Brad Lowell, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force in Tampa, Fla.

Lowell said the injured were taken to a medical facility in the region around Afghanistan, but he would not be more specific.

The cause of the crash is unknown, although it does not appear to have been caused by hostile fire, said the U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Afghan war effort.

Lowell would not describe the plane's mission. The $75 million propeller-driven aircraft — nicknamed the "Combat Shadow" by the U.S. Air Force — mainly refuels helicopters flown by U.S. special forces troops, operating mostly at night to avoid detection.

The plane also can drop leaflets and small teams of special operations soldiers.

Air crashes and other mishaps have been far more deadly to American forces than enemy fire during the four-month U.S.-led war.

In the deadliest accident, a KC-130 refueling aircraft crashed Jan. 9 in neighbouring Pakistan, killing seven Marines.

On Jan. 20, a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed south of Baghram in Afghanistan, killing two of seven Marines aboard.

The Star

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

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-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002