Pilot dies in US fighter jet crash in east Afghanistan
Iran Press TV
Thu Apr 4, 2013 4:25PM GMT
The pilot of a US Air Force fighter jet has died when the military aircraft crashed in eastern Afghanistan, Press TV reports.
The warplane went down while it was conducting military operations on Thursday.
The US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said the wreckage of the plane and the body of the dead pilot have been recovered.
Earlier in the day, the Taliban alleged to have shot down a US military plane, killing several foreign troops.
The group claimed that the plane was targeted near the US military’s Bagram Air Base, located approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the capital Kabul.
On Wednesday, Afghan officials said an unmanned aerial vehicle operated by the US-led forces had crashed in the country’s eastern province of Wardak.
Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for Wardak governor, said the overnight crash in the Nirkh District of the Maidan Wardak province was due to a technical problem.
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country, despite the presence of thousands of US-led troops.
According to the United Nations, thousands of Afghan civilians have died and hundreds of thousands more displaced during more than 11 years of long war.
MP/JR
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