2 US Predator drones crashed in Mideast in October, says US military spokesman
Iran Press TV
Wed Oct 21, 2015 6:13PM
Two Predator drones belonging to the US military have recently crashed in separate incidents in the Middle East, a US military official says.
US military spokesman, Colonel Steve Warren, said on Wednesday that the first incident occurred in Iraq on October 16.
A Predator crew reported a 'lost link and subsequent crash while the Predator was flying southeast of Baghdad,' the US military official added.
The drone was found in the vicinity of the eastern city of Kut by local Iraqi police who returned the aircraft to US control. No one sustained injuries in the crash.
In the second case on October 19, another Predator went down in the southern part of Turkey over "mechanical failure," Warren said, adding, "The aircraft experienced mechanical failure. The Air Force in this case maintained positive control of the aircraft and brought it down safely in an unpopulated area."
An investigation has been launched into the incidents.
Predator drones can carry deadly munitions, but it is still unclear if the two unmanned aerial vehicles were armed when the crashes took place.
Since late September 2014, the US, along with some of its allies, has been conducting airstrikes against purported positions of the Takfiri Daesh terrorists inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.
The airstrikes in Syria are an extension of the US-led aerial campaign against similar alleged positions in Iraq, which started in August last year. Many have criticized the ineffectiveness of the raids.
The Turkish government has permitted Washington to use a base at Incirlik in southern Turkey to conduct the airstrikes.
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