Three soldiers are confirmed to have died in the crash of a US military transport plane in Afghanistan.
Seven others on board escaped with minor injuries.
The crash on take-off did not appear to have been caused by hostile fire, the Pentagon said.
Col Rick Thomas said remains of the three soldiers were recovered at the site of the crash, about 35 miles southwest of the Afghan town of Gardez.
The seven other soldiers suffered minor injuries ranging from a broken leg to cuts and bruises. They were taken to a US base at Kandahar to be treated.
"The Air Force MC-130H crashed at about 9.30 p.m. local time near the Bande Sardeh dam in Paktika province," said Lt Co. Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman.
The MC-130H, nicknamed the Combat Talon, is a version of the propeller-driven C-130 cargo plane outfitted for special forces missions such as refueling helicopters and taking commandos into hostile territory.
The £110 million, four-engine plane is designed to take off and land on short, unpaved runways and can carry up to 77 troops.
Eighteen US soldiers supporting the war in Afghanistan have now been killed in airplane or helicopter crashes.
On January 9th, seven Marines were killed when their KC-130 crashed into a mountain in Pakistan. The KC-130 is the refuelling tanker version of the C-130.