Iraq claims downing of US spy plane

Iraq claims it has shot down an unmanned US spy plane over its southern no-fly zone.

Iraq claims it has shot down an unmanned US spy plane over its southern no-fly zone.

The state-run Iraqi News Agency quotes an official saying the plane was shot down in revenge of the martyrs of Iraq and Palestine.

"The spy plane was shot down in the southern sector and was coming from Kuwaiti territory," the agency quoted an unidentified Iraqi military official as saying.

"This plane was used to spy on our installations and our military formations," the official said.

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US officials have not yet commented on the claimed downing.

The location of the reported downing or how it was shot were not specified. There was no footage shown in the Iraqi news Agency’s TV broadcast.

The United States has acknowledged that it lost two unmanned Predator spy planes in September, both of which Iraq claimed to have shot down.

While US officials have said Iraq has stepped up efforts to shoot down an allied plane, they haven't acknowledged any hits by hostile fire.

No-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq were established after the Gulf War to protect Shi’ite Muslims and Kurdish minorities.

PA