NEW YORK TIMES: Seven people were killed on Monday when a civilian cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off from Bagram Air Base, northeast of Kabul, according to an international military spokesman. The police chief of the surrounding area, Ezmarai Nasiri, said the plane “crashed soon after it took off and its tail caught on fire.” There was no information late on Monday about whether the plane was carrying cargo or its intended destination. It belonged to National Air Cargo, a military contractor based in Orchard Park, N.Y., outside Buffalo. Military officials said that the cause of the crash was being investigated, but that there had been no enemy activity in the area at the time. MORE