A fighter jet taking part in military operations over Libya crashed on landing at an air base in Italy today, a NATO official told AFP.

"An F-16 crashed on landing at Sigonella air base. The pilot ejected and his further condition is being assessed," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The plane was not on a combat operation and was being transferred from a base in Sardinia to the Sigonella NATO base in Sicily, the official said.

The official declined to give further details on the condition of the pilot.

Italy's ANSA news agency reported that the fighter jet belonged to the United Arab Emirates and said the base had been temporarily shut down.

The UAE, which is not a member of NATO, last month deployed 12 fighter jets at Decimomannu including six F-16s and six Mirages for the enforcement of a no-fly zone on Libya mandated by the United Nations Security Council.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.