AFP, Jalalabad :The Taliban claimed today to have shot down a US military transport plane in eastern Afghanistan in a crash that killed 11 people, as the battle for Kunduz raged after the emboldened militants briefly seized the city.The Taliban’s stunning success in Kunduz, their biggest tactical success since 2001, marks a blow for Afghanistan’s NATO-trained forces, who have largely been fighting on their own since December.NATO has not yet confirmed the cause of Friday’s crash. The Taliban regularly claim to have shot down military aircraft.”Our mujahideen have shot down a four-engine US aircraft in Jalalabad,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter. “Based on credible information 15 invading forces and a number of puppet troops were killed.”US Army Colonel Brian Tribus said the crash, which occurred at about midnight local time on Friday (1930 GMT Thursday), left six US soldiers and five civilian contractors dead.The contractors had been working for “Resolute Support”, the NATO-led training mission.The Taliban claim came as Amnesty International condemned the insurgents’ “reign of terror” in Kunduz, which fell to the militants five days ago in a lightning strike.A limited picture has emerged of conditions in the city following claim and counter-claim by the Afghan government and the Taliban over who was in control.However, residents told AFP fierce gun battles and explosions were still echoing in parts of Kunduz late Thursday, and the streets were littered with Taliban bodies and charred and mangled vehicles.Journalists including an AFP photographer were invited to travel with Afghan troops into the centre of Kunduz on Thursday, but after a long wait at a base near the city they were told they had to return to Kabul.Amnesty International cited civilian testimonies of mass murder, gang rapes and house-to-house searches by militant death squads.The report, which cited rights activists, claimed militants had a “hit list” and were using young boys to help conduct house-to-house searches to track down their targets, especially women.
