July 18 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1200 GMT on Saturday. GHAZNI - A U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. Air Force said, and a military source said both crew members on board were killed. A U.S. military statement said the incident was not a result of hostile fire. Mohammad Qasem Nazari, a provincial district chief in Ghazni province southwest of Kabul, said the aircraft went down in a desert in the province's northern Nawur district. A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said Taliban fighters had shot down the plane, which he described as a transport aircraft. The Taliban generally claim responsibility for all NATO air crashes in Afghanistan, however they are not known to have missiles capable of shooting down a supersonic jet. NANGARHAR - Two villagers and three insurgents were killed when villagers tried to stop the Taliban attacking a home of an Afghan army officer in the Achin district of Nangarhar province east of Kabul overnight, provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said. Eleven Taliban fighters were detained by the locals, including eight from neighbouring Pakistan, he said. NURISTAN - A joint operation by Afghan and Western troops backed by air strikes killed eight Taliban fighters in the Barg Matal district of Nuristan province near the eastern border with Pakistan on Friday, provincial governor Jamaluddin Badr said. KUNAR - Afghan and Western forces killed ten Taliban militants after their patrol came under fire in the Pech district of Kunar province in the east, the U.S. military said in a statement. ZABUL - Three Afghan army soldiers were killed and three wounded when a car packed with explosives was detonated near their military vehicle in the southern Shah Joy district of Zabul province in the south, the Defense Ministry said. HELMAND - A roadside bomb attack killed one Afghan soldier and wounded three more in the Gereshk district of southern Helmand province on Friday, Defense Ministry said. ZABUL - Afghan security forces killed two insurgents, wounded two and detained one more during a battle in the Arghandab district of Zabul province in the south of the country on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said. (Compiled by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by Peter Graff)
U.S. soldiers of 3rd Platoon from the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division patrol near a village of Qol-e-Boton in the mountains of Wardak Province in Afghanistan July 17, 2009. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov ...
