HIGHLIGHTS: U.S. Military Say Crash Not the Result of Hostile Fire||45M U.S. Dollar Plane, an Upgraded Version of Workhorse C-130 ||Another Version of Plane Crashed in a Mountain in Pakistan January, 2002|| STORY: A U.S. military MC-130 special operations aircraft crashed on takeoff in southeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing three of the 10 people aboard, the Pentagon said. (Read photo caption)

The US. Central Command said the crash of the 45 million U.S. dollar aircraft "does not appear to be the result of hostile fire".

"Seven of the 10 passengers have been transferred to a medical facility at Kandahar for treatment," Central Command said. "Injuries range from a broken leg to cuts and bruises."

The "Combat Talon" aircraft -- packed with electronic equipment and designed for night missions -- went down at about 9:30 p.m. in Afghanistan (1 p.m. EDT/1700 GMT) near Bande Sardeh Dam just after taking off from a base near Gardez.

Search and rescue teams reached the scene a short while later, added the command, which is responsible for the U.S. military campaign against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Gardez is 130 km southwest of the capital, Kabul.

HUNT FOR AL QAEDA, TALIBAN

U.S. and other Western troops have been combing mountains in the region for months in search of remnants of the Taliban fighters and guerrillas of fugitive Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization.

"There's little doubt that the aircraft had been supporting operations in the area," said one Pentagon official, who asked not to be identified.

The powerful special operations planes, built by the Lockheed Martin Corporation, are upgraded versions of the basic workhorse C-130 military cargo aircraft used by armed forces of many countries. The big planes are 29 metres long and can carry either troops or up to 11,250 kg of cargo.

The Combat Talon is loaded with electronic equipment and weapons and is designed for night operations. It crashed at night in eastern Afghanistan, where U.S. and Western coalition forces have been pressing a hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

A U.S. KC-130 refueling version of the C-130 crashed into a mountain in Pakistan on January 9 while trying to land, killing all seven American Marines on the aircraft.

That plane was on a mission supporting the U.S.-led war in rugged Afghanistan.

Before Wednesday's crash, 37 U.S. troops had been killed in and around Afghanistan, 18 of them in direct combat and the other 19 in accidents. One civilian CIA agent was also killed in a prison uprising in northern Afghanistan.

PHOTO CAPTION

Military sources said the U.S. transport plane that crashed in Eastern Afghanistan, June 12, 2002, was a four-engine MC-130 aircraft used to carry Special Forces soldiers. The 45m U.S. dollar aircraft, known as the Combat Talon, was used for such missions as refueling helicopters and inserting commandos into hostile territory. They are 29 metres (97 feet) long and can carry either troops or up to 11,250 kilograms (25,000 pounds) of cargo.