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U.S. fighter jet crashes on Iraq mission

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 16, 2007

BAGHDAD - A U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashed early Friday during an air support mission for ground forces in Iraq - a rare loss of the workhorse aircraft.

An Air Force announcement did not say where the crash occurred or what happened to the pilot, the single crew member. It said the military was investigating the cause of the crash.

An Ohio National Guard spokesman said the pilot, whom he did not identify, was a member of the 180th Fighter Wing based in Toledo. Spokesman Mark Wayda said about 270 of the unit's 1, 000 members were deployed to Iraq last month.

The loss of an F-16 is an uncommon event. One crashed Nov. 27 in the western province of Anbar, killing the pilot.

Also Friday, the U.S. military said five soldiers had died. Three of the soldiers died when a bomb exploded near their vehicle Thursday during operations in Kirkuk province, in northern Iraq. Another soldier was wounded in the blast.

A fourth soldier was killed by small-arms fire the same day in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. And another soldier died Wednesday in a noncombat-related incident.

In the deep south of Iraq, police said bombers posing as TV cameramen destroyed an important Sunni shrine, the Talha Bin al-Zubair, outside Basra. The attack appeared to be the work of Shiite militants seeking revenge for Wednesday's attack on the al-Askariya Shiite shrine in Samarra.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered an indefinite curfew in Basra.

Fast Facts:

Iraq developments

- Gates visits: Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Iraq Friday and expressed disappointment with the pace of reconciliation under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

- Troop increase: All of the U.S. troops deployed as part of President Bush's military surge are now in Iraq, the military said.

- Pace's exit: Gen. Peter Pace said he rejected an offer to retire rather than be forced out as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. Quitting in wartime lets down the troops, he said.

[Last modified June 16, 2007, 02:29:32]