*Tokyo,Japan: *Japan’s defence ministry demanded explanations Tuesday fromthe US military after a fighter jet experiencing an engine fire dropped twofuel tanks into a lake in the country’s north.

The incident, which caused no injuries, is the latest in a string ofaccidents involving the US military that have prompted concern fromJapanese officials and renewed criticism of the US military presence in thecountry.

“We are asking the US side to explain what happened and its cause, and wefully demand the US side take prevention measures,” Japan’s DefenceMinister Itsunori Onodera told a press conference.

The F16 took off from the Misawa Air Base in northern Japan’s Aomori regionearly on Tuesday morning and immediately experienced an engine fire,Onodera said.

“The US military has told us that it discarded two exterior tanks on LakeOgawara just north of Misawa Air Base and landed back at Misawa Air Base,”Onodera said.

In a statement, the US military confirmed that one of its F-16s had beenforced to “jettison two external fuel tanks into an unpopulated area” afteran engine fire broke out.

“The safety of our airmen and our Japanese neighbours is our number onepriority during flying operations,” said Colonel R. Scott Jobe, the 35thFighting Wing commander.

“We will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the root cause ofthis incident.”

The case follows a string of accidents involving US military aircraft, forwhich US Secretary of Defense James Mattis apologised to Onodera last month.

US military helicopters made at least three emergency landings in thesouthern region of Okinawa in January alone.

In December, a window from a US military helicopter fell onto a schoolground in Okinawa, and in October a US military helicopter burst intoflames after landing in an empty field on Okinawa. – APP/AFPtags: Japan