NATO jet crashes, blast kills British soldier in Kabul
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
KABUL, July 20 (AP): A Tornado fighter jet crashed inside NATO's largest base in southern Afghanistan Monday in the second major crash on the base in two days, officials said.
The jet crashed inside Kandahar Airfield during takeoff at 7:20 am Afghanistan time (0250 GMT), said Capt Ruben Hoornveld, a spokesman for the NATO-led force. The two-member crew ejected and were being treated at the base hospital.
There was no indication that insurgent activity caused the crash, he said, but officials could not immediately say why the plane went down. The jet caught fire and emergency personnel responded.
NATO didn't identify which nation the jet came from, but a US military spokeswoman in Kabul said the jet was a Tornado - an aircraft commonly flown by British forces.
AFP adds: A British soldier was killed by an explosion while on a foot patrol in Afghanistan, the ministry of defence said here Monday.
The soldier, from The 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, died Sunday as a result of the blast in the town of Sangin, in the troubled southern Helmand province.
The jet crashed inside Kandahar Airfield during takeoff at 7:20 am Afghanistan time (0250 GMT), said Capt Ruben Hoornveld, a spokesman for the NATO-led force. The two-member crew ejected and were being treated at the base hospital.
There was no indication that insurgent activity caused the crash, he said, but officials could not immediately say why the plane went down. The jet caught fire and emergency personnel responded.
NATO didn't identify which nation the jet came from, but a US military spokeswoman in Kabul said the jet was a Tornado - an aircraft commonly flown by British forces.
AFP adds: A British soldier was killed by an explosion while on a foot patrol in Afghanistan, the ministry of defence said here Monday.
The soldier, from The 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, died Sunday as a result of the blast in the town of Sangin, in the troubled southern Helmand province.