KUWAIT (Reuters) -- Three American soldiers were killed and 16 others were slightly injured when their C-130 military cargo plane crash landed at Kuwait international airport, the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

Civil Aviation official Zuhair al-Zamal said the airport received a distress call from the aircraft, with 96 people aboard, that it had trouble with its landing gear, KUNA said.

The incident occurred at about midnight GMT and all the injured were rushed to hospital. The United States has maintained a military presence in Kuwait since the 1991 Gulf War to end Iraq's seven-month occupation of the wealthy state.

U.S. forces often use Kuwaiti military airports, including an airbase from which U.S. Air Force aircraft participate in daily patrols over southern Iraq to enforce a no-fly zone.

Friday's incident is the first known major accident involving American forces in Kuwait in recent years.

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