An Egyptian F-16 fighter jet has crashed during a military exercise, killing its crew, the military said in a statement early on Thursday.

2 pilots killed when F-16 crashed in Ismailiyah Egypt Maj. Mohamad Jamal Abdel Aziz Cpt. Mahmoud Mohamad Fuad Morsi

The statement did not specify a death toll or provide the cause or location of the incident.

Ahram Arabic news website reported that two were killed in the crash, the pilot and a captain. They were aged 48 and 42, it added.

The website said the warplane came down near a military airbase in the town of Fayed, in the port governorate of Ismailia, around 120 km east of Cairo.

Egypt’s army has in recent months reinforced its armament with the deliveries of F-16 aircrafts from the US and Rafale fighter jets from France as well as submarines from Germany.

english.ahram.org.eg