U.S. F-16 Crashes on the Way to Northern Iraqi No-Fly Zone
ANKARA, July 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A United States Air Force F-16 fighter, on its way to the U.S.- imposed northern "no-fly zone" in Iraq, crashed near the city of Batman, a Turkish Armed spokesman was quoted by news agencies as saying.
The American pilot survived the crash. "The pilot ejected and is uninjured," said a statement from U.S.- European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. "The pilot was picked up in a joint Turkish-U.S. effort."
A Turkish military spokesman said the fighter-bomber took off from Incirlik Air Base at 9:29 a.m. (0729 GMT) during a routine patrol of northern Iraq.
According to U.S. - European Command, the F-16 crashed 45 minutes later in a mountainous area near Batman in southeastern Turkey. A Turkish military official went on to say that it crashed because of "technical reasons."
But, the statement from U.S. European Command gave no reason for the crash, only claiming that it was "not due to hostile action."
This is the first crash of an F-16 from Incirlik, according to Turkish officials.
The United States has a strong military presence in Turkey, with both air force and army representatives working closely with Ankara's military establishment. Some neighboring Arab Muslim countries have expressed concern that the U.S.-Turkish alliance, which at times of war games include Israel, poses a threat not only to Iraq, but to several other Arab countries.
British and U.S. planes use Incirlik when carrying out "Operation Northern Watch", the official name for the patrol of the northern "no-fly zone" in Iraq.
Western forces set up no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War, allegedly to protect Kurdish dissidents and other minority groups.
Iraq does not recognize the zones and has frequently complained to the Arab League about continued military intrusions into northern Iraq, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.
