A US F-16 fighter jet has come under Taliban fire in eastern Afghanistan, military officials say.

The advanced jet sustained significant damage in the attack which happened late Tuesday in Paktia Province, much of which is under control of the Taliban, officials told AFP.

The multi-million dollar warplane had to jettison its fuel tanks and munitions before returning to base, officials said.

The US military said it had no "operational reporting to support the Taliban claims" that it had shot down the jet.

Photographs of the site obtained by AFP, however, showed masked Taliban militants posing with a missile and two other unguided bombs belonging to the F-16.

When presented with the images, the US military confirmed to AFP Saturday that “a US F-16 encountered small arms fire.”

"The pilot jettisoned two fuel tanks and three munitions before safely returning to base. The pilot received no injuries and safely returned to base," it said.

The incident marked the first time the Taliban targeted an advanced US fighter jet capable of supersonic speeds.

Taliban militants have downed several military helicopters using small-arms fire since they were ousted from power in 2011.

President Barack Obama has announced plans to keep nearly 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan through 2016 and some 5,500 in 2017.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Obama described his new war plan as a "modest but meaningful" extension of the US military campaign in Afghanistan.

Obama had originally planned to withdraw almost all US troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year.