Iran forces down US spy drone
Source: Agencies |
December 8, 2011, Thursday
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THE unmanned United States spy plane was deep inside Iran's airspace, flying over an eastern town famous for Persian carpets and saffron when it was downed by Iranian armed forces, state radio reported yesterday.
The report said the stealth-version of the RQ-170 drone was detected by Iranian forces over the eastern town of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers from the border with Afghanistan.
"The US smart plane was captured by Iranian anti-aircraft units somewhere in the sky over Kashmar in the east of the country," the radio said. It did not speculate as to why the drone flew over the town, which lies in an agricultural area known for the production of saffron and Persian carpets. The radio added that Iran will "soon" broadcast video footage of the downed drone.
Iran first reported the downing on Sunday but did not say when the incident happened. At the time, the official IRNA news agency said Iran's armed forces had shot it down - a claim later rejected by US officials who said the drone crashed over the weekend.
Yesterday, Iran's Kayhan daily quoted an unnamed military expert as saying Iranian forces did not shoot down the drone. The expert, though, said the Iranian military is capable of bringing it down in such a way that the "body of the plane and its parts remain intact."
The report said the stealth-version of the RQ-170 drone was detected by Iranian forces over the eastern town of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers from the border with Afghanistan.
"The US smart plane was captured by Iranian anti-aircraft units somewhere in the sky over Kashmar in the east of the country," the radio said. It did not speculate as to why the drone flew over the town, which lies in an agricultural area known for the production of saffron and Persian carpets. The radio added that Iran will "soon" broadcast video footage of the downed drone.
Iran first reported the downing on Sunday but did not say when the incident happened. At the time, the official IRNA news agency said Iran's armed forces had shot it down - a claim later rejected by US officials who said the drone crashed over the weekend.
Yesterday, Iran's Kayhan daily quoted an unnamed military expert as saying Iranian forces did not shoot down the drone. The expert, though, said the Iranian military is capable of bringing it down in such a way that the "body of the plane and its parts remain intact."
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