A British RAF Nimrod has crashed in Afghanistan, killing 14 military personnel.

A British plane has crashed in Afghanistan, killing 14 military personnel in Britain's worst single loss in the country.
British and NATO officials say the Royal Air Force (RAF) Nimrod MR2 aircraft was supporting the NATO mission in the country when it went down, apparently due to a technical problem, in the southern province of Kandahar.
"The Ministry of Defence is extremely sorry to have to confirm that the aircraft lost in Afghanistan earlier today ... was British, and that the crash led to 14 fatalities," a ministry spokesman said in London.
He said the dead included 12 Royal Air Force personnel, a Royal Marine and an army soldier.
The RAF's Nimrod planes carry sophisticated reconnaissance and communications equipment enabling them to relay messages from troops on the ground.
British Defence Secretary Des Browne called the accident "dreadful and shocking".
While it was not the time to speculate about the cause of the crash, all indications were that it was "a terrible accident and not the result of hostile action," he said.
The crash was Britain's worst single loss in Afghanistan and caps a month in which British forces in the country have suffered severe casualties.
Military analysts said the crash would revive the political debate in Britain about the country's role in Afghanistan and whether its forces are over-stretched given they are also working flat out in Iraq.
The last significant British military crash was in January 2005 when a C130 Hercules transport plane was brought down by hostile fire in Iraq, killing nine Britons and one Australian.
NATO said in a statement the British plane crashed after declaring a technical problem. "Enemy action has been discounted at this stage," it said.
The crash came at a time when the Taliban and other insurgent and criminal groups have stepped up attacks on Afghan and foreign forces, plunging the country into its bloodiest period since the Taliban were toppled in late 2001.
- Reuters

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