It was not immediately clear how many people were aboard the plane. An Afghan civil aviation official said all seven aboard were killed, but a company involved in the flight later said eight people had been aboard and their status was unknown.

Afghan and international forces sent a search and rescue mission and helicopters out to the area of the crash, around 25-30 kilometers (15-20 miles) east of Kabul, after the aircraft went down en route from nearby Bagram military air base.

"It was a cargo plane coming from Bagram to Kabul when it hit the peak," Nangyalai Qalatwal, spokesman for the Ministry of Civil Aviation, told Reuters.

National Air Cargo said the plane was a TransAfrik L-100 flying from Bagram to Kabul with a pallet of general repair parts. The aircraft was being flown on behalf of National Air Cargo, the firm said.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said early reports indicated the plane was an L-100 Hercules aircraft, the civilian equivalent of a military C-130. The plane was not an ISAF aircraft, a spokesman for the force said.

A police official had earlier reported a passenger plane had crashed near the Afghan capital.

Kabul's international airport is bustling with civilian and military air traffic involved in U.S., NATO and United Nations operations in the country's conflict and aid efforts, as well as commercial passenger and cargo flights.