Kabul , Afghanistan ( CNN ) -- Taliban insurgents seized an Afghan pilot and nine foreign nationals from a transport helicopter after it was forced to make an emergency landing late Sunday night in eastern Afghanistan , authorities said . The private helicopter , that was used to carry food and other items for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) , was headed to Kabul from a NATO base in Khost province when it was forced to land in Azra district in neighboring Logar province , said the district 's governor , Hamidullah Hamid . On board were seven Turkish engineers and three pilots : an Afghan and two Russians . Because it 's not always safe to travel by road in areas with heavy militant activity , engineers and others will often hitch rides in helicopters delivering supplies . Taliban storm Afghan police checkpoint ; kill 6 . The aircraft landed in Logar because of equipment malfunction , said Din Mohammad Darwesh , the spokesman for the Logar province 's governor . The Taliban immediately surrounded the chopper and took the nine occupants hostage . Local officials enlisted the help of tribal elders to secure their release , Darwesh said . The Taliban , in a text message to news outlets , said the group forced the helicopter down . John Manley , an ISAF spokesman , would only say that a civilian aircraft went down in eastern Afghanistan and that the alliance was `` assisting . '' The Turkish foreign ministry said it could not confirm the involvement of the Taliban or whether several of its citizens had been taken hostage . It said it was looking into the reports and will have more information later Monday . Road side bomb kills 7 in Afghanistan . CNN 's Gul Tuysuz contributed to this report .
NEW : On board are 7 Turkish engineers , 2 Russian pilots and an Afghan pilot . Chopper is headed to Kabul from Turkey . It has equipment malfunction , an engineer says . In text messages to news outlets , Taliban says it forced the chopper to land .