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U.S. F-15 fighter jet crashes in Afghanistan
Sat Jul 18, 2009 2:14am EDT Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page [-] Text [+]
KABUL (Reuters) - A U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday with two crew members on board, the U.S. military said.

The condition of the two crew was not known, the U.S. Air Force said in a statement, adding the crash was not due to hostile action. The crash took place at 3:15 a.m. local time (2245 GMT on Friday).

“There is an active investigation going on at the site at this time,” Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Reid Christopherson said by telephone from a U.S. base in Qatar, adding that he was unable to provide further details.

Although the Air Force declined to comment on whether the pilots had survived, it did not describe any effort to rescue them.

The Strike Eagle is a variant of the F-15 supersonic jet designed to strike ground targets and provide close air support for infantry. It has been deployed widely in both Afghanistan and Iraq.