BAGRAM AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN (CNN) — A U.S. Air Force F-16 crashed during takeoff Tuesday night near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said.
The pilot ejected safely and was recovered by coalition forces, according to a U.S. military statement. The pilot is under medical evaluation. Coalition forces are securing the crash site, the statement said.
The cause of the accident will be investigated, the Pentagon said.
A U.S. soldier was killed and two others were wounded during a joint U.S.-Afghan Special Operations mission in Marjah in January, the Pentagon said.
A U.S. official told CNN that a quick-reaction force had been launched to try to rescue those forces on the ground there. The official could not say from where the force was launched or how many people were involved.
The service member who was killed came under fire as part of a train-and-assist mission in Marjah in Helmand province, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.
A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the date of a U.S. service member’s death in Marjah, Afghanistan. The service member died in January.
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