Reuters Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq said on Monday it shot down an American plane over the country's southern "no-fly" zone, and the U.S. military confirmed that an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft was missing and may have been downed.
If the U.S. loss were confirmed, the $3.3 million Air Force RQ-1B "Predator" would be the first U.S. aircraft lost to Iraqi fire since the 1991 Gulf War.
An Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad said the U.S. plane was downed near the country's second city, the oil-shipping port of Basra, 300 miles southeast of the capital.
"The air defenses in the Basra area shot down the plane when it was flying a spy mission inside Iraqi air space," the spokesman said.
Iraqi television aired footage of what it described as the wreckage of the U.S. aircraft, strewn across the desert near Basra. The video showed an aircraft engine, mangled wires and communications boxes with the inscriptions "property of the USAF" and "US Navy prop."
U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, which coordinates military operations over Iraq, acknowledged that the Predator was missing and "may have crashed or been shot down" early on Monday.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq said on Monday it shot down an American plane over the country's southern "no-fly" zone, and the U.S. military confirmed that an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft was missing and may have been downed.
If the U.S. loss were confirmed, the $3.3 million Air Force RQ-1B "Predator" would be the first U.S. aircraft lost to Iraqi fire since the 1991 Gulf War.
An Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad said the U.S. plane was downed near the country's second city, the oil-shipping port of Basra, 300 miles southeast of the capital.
"The air defenses in the Basra area shot down the plane when it was flying a spy mission inside Iraqi air space," the spokesman said.
Iraqi television aired footage of what it described as the wreckage of the U.S. aircraft, strewn across the desert near Basra. The video showed an aircraft engine, mangled wires and communications boxes with the inscriptions "property of the USAF" and "US Navy prop."
U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, which coordinates military operations over Iraq, acknowledged that the Predator was missing and "may have crashed or been shot down" early on Monday.
Want to learn more? http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=Z1MIYIFTX1YPMCRBAEZSFFAKEEATGIWD?type=topnews&StoryID=182935