US drone aircraft crashes in Pakistan

PAKISTAN: A pilotless US drone aircraft crashed in northwest Pakistan's South Waziristan region yesterday, Pakistani news channels reported, but there was no official confirmation.

US forces have launched a number of attacks with missiles fired by drones, and one ground assault, on militant targets in northwest Pakistan in recent weeks, infuriating the US ally which says the attacks are a violation of Pakistani sovereignty.

Reports said the drone came down near the border village of Angor Adda, where US commandos launched a ground assault on September 3rd that Pakistani officials said killed 20 people, including women and children.

A Pakistani intelligence officer in the region said he had no information, but had heard claims by a Taliban faction that a drone had been shot down on the Afghan side of the border.

Dawn News, one of several channels reporting the incident, said security forces had found wreckage of a drone near the village of Jalal Khel, 8km from Angor Adda and 3km from the border. It said officials believed the drone crashed, although Pashtun tribesmen claimed to have shot it down.

Earlier yesterday, US president George Bush met Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari in New York, and said Mr Zardari had spoken about protecting Pakistani sovereignty. Mr Bush did not speak about the strikes. - (Reuters)

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times