Posted on 03/23/2003 6:52:42 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Patriot Missile Shoots Down British Jet
.c The Associated Press
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar (AP) - A Patriot missile battery shot down a British Royal Air Force fighter aircraft near the Iraq-Kuwait border Sunday, British officials said.
There was no word on the fate of the British crew and no information on their numbers, said Group Capt. Al Lockwood, spokesman for British forces in the Gulf.
``We're looking now for the evidence of the aircraft's crash site and obviously the crew members,'' he said.
The Tornado GR4, based in Marham, Britain, was returning from an operational mission early Sunday and was engaged by the missile battery, said a statement from the British press information center at U.S. Central Command.
``We can confirm that a Tornado GR4 aircraft ... was engaged near the Kuwaiti border by a Patriot missile battery,'' said a statement from the British press information center at U.S. Central Command.
Earlier Sunday, U.S. military officials said a U.S. Patriot missile battery may have downed the plane. The British statement didn't say whether the battery was U.S., Kuwaiti or of another country.
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