US Air Force jet crashes in Iraq

A US Air Force jet carrying one pilot crashed in Iraq today, the military said.

The F-16CG was supporting coalition ground forces when it went down about 20 miles north-west of Baghdad in Anbar province, the military said in a brief statement that contained no information about the cause of the crash or the fate of the pilot.

Mohammed Al-Obeidi, an Iraqi who lives in the nearby town of Karmah, said he saw the jet flying up and down erratically before it nose-dived and exploded in a farm field.

He said other US warplanes rushed to the crash site and were circling around it.