A US drone crashed in northwest Pakistan's tribal district near the Afghan border late Saturday, officials said.
The
unmanned reconnaissance aircraft came down in the mountainous Machikhel
area about 30 kilometres (20 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in
North Waziristan region, which is frequently targeted by drone strikes
against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, military and security officials
said.
"A US drone crashed, apparently due to some technical fault," a military official in the northwestern city of Peshawar told AFP.
Security officials in the region confirmed the crash saying it fell in the mountains.
The
crash site has been surrounded by militants, one security official
said, refusing to confirm claims by some Taliban that the drone was shot
down by insurgents.
Militants had taken away parts of the wreckage, a security official said.
President
Barack Obama last month confirmed for the first time that US drones
target Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants on Pakistani soil, but American
officials do not discuss details of the covert programme.
At least
13 militants were killed in two drone attacks on February 16 in North
Waziristan and a week earlier Badar Mansoor, described as the "de facto
leader of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan" was killed in a missile strike, also in
North Waziristan.
The United States says Pakistan's tribal belt
provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting in Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda groups
plotting attacks on the West, and Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb
Pakistan, and other foreign fighters.
The US strikes are deeply
unpopular among the Pakistani public, who see the attacks as a violation
of sovereignty and who blame the government's US alliance for much of
the violence plaguing the country.
US diplomatic cables leaked by
WikiLeaks in late 2010 showed that Pakistan's civilian and military
leaders privately supported the attacks, despite public condemnation.
According
to an AFP tally, 45 US missile strikes were reported in Pakistan's
tribal belt in 2009, the year Obama took office, 101 in 2010 and 64 in
2011.
The programme has dramatically increased as the Obama
administration looks to withdraw all foreign combat troops from
Afghanistan by the end of 2014. AFP
