An American unmanned aircraft returning from a routine surveillance mission in Iraq crashed Saturday as it was preparing to land at an airfield in Kuwait, the military said.
The cause of the drone's crash was under investigation, said Lt. Cmdr. Bruce Erickson of U.S. Central Command, based in Tampa, Fla. The crash was not the result of enemy fire, he said, according to AP.
The Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, which crashed, had been on a mission in as part of the international response to Iraqi noncompliance with a U.N. Security Council resolution passed after the Gulf War, the report said.
The Predator is an unmanned reconnaissance and surveillance system designed to provide military commanders with high-resolution, real-time imagery. Erickson said ground support personnel had retrieved the drone that crashed.
At least six of the propeller-powered Predators now have crashed since the United States began its anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan in October.
Meanwhile, eighteen Iraqi civilians were injured in a U.S. and British aircraft bombing run in southern Iraq, Iraq said Saturday. An unidentified Iraqi military spokesman said allied warplanes bombed "civil and service installations" late Friday in Dhi Qar province, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.
The Iraqi spokesman said 18 civilians were wounded, but did not elaborate on the extent of their injuries. Iraq challenged the planes with its "courageous ground resistance" and the planes left the area, the report added without giving the time of the attack. (Albawaba.com)
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