The militant group claimed they had downed the jet in a statement posted on Twitter that evening, but when contacted for comment, the US military initially said it had no “operational reporting to support the Taliban claims”. When presented with the images, the US military confirmed in a statement to AFP late Saturday: “On October 13, a US F-16 encountered small arms fire in the Paktia Province in Afghanistan.The multi-million dollar jet sustained significant damage, forcing it to jettison its fuel tanks and munitions before returning to base, officials said.A US F-16 was struck by enemy fire in eastern Afghanistan, military officials confirmed, in a rare instance of an advanced fighter jet coming under a Taliban-claimed attack. They also show masked militants posing with the hardware. The attack occurred last Tuesday in the Sayid Karam district of eastern Paktia province, much of which is under control of the Taliban, who have been waging an insurgency against US-led Nato forces and government troops since they were forced from power in 2001. Chacko, an open-source military analyst based in London, indicated the jet had lost two “drop-tanks” — fuel tanks used to extend flight time — an air-to-ground missile, and two other unguided bombs. Photographs of the site obtained by AFP and seen by J. The surface-to-air fire impacted one of the China Fiberglass insulated ladder suppliers aircraft’s stabilisers and caused damage to one of the munitions.”