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US drone crashes near Chaman

AFP: US surveillance drone crashes in Pakistan

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US surveillance drone crashes in Pakistan

(AFP) – 2 hours ago

QUETTA, Pakistan — An American surveillance drone equipped with a camera crashed in southwestern Pakistan Thursday close to the Afghan border, local officials said, adding the wreckage had been recovered.

The unmanned aircraft went down because of a technical fault just inside Pakistani territory in Chaman town, in insurgency-hit Baluchistan province, but had caused no damage, a security official in the area told AFP.

"It was an American surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle. It crashed on this side of the border," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding the wreckage of the aircraft had been recovered.

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that Pakistan probably let Chinese engineers examine what was left of a top-secret US stealth helicopter that crashed in the country during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

Citing unnamed officials, the newspaper said US intelligence agencies concluded it was likely that Chinese engineers -- at the invitation of Pakistani spies -- took detailed photographs of the severed tail of the Black Hawk helicopter equipped with classified technology designed to elude radar.

Relations between Pakistan and the United States are at a low point, strained by the covert American raid that killed bin Laden near Pakistan's main military academy and Pakistan's earlier detention of a CIA contractor.

An official from Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps in Quetta, Baluchistan province's main town, confirmed Thursday's incident.

"Some spare parts and a camera were also found with it," the official said. "It crashed near a Frontier Corps fort in Chaman but caused no damage."

Such crashes of US drone aircraft are rare but a Pakistani surveillance drone went down in the city of Karachi in July after hitting a bird on a routine flight.

In September 2008, tribesmen in the country's South Waziristan tribal district claimed to have shot down a US surveillance drone in Jalal village near the Afghan border.

The Pakistani army said it was investigating but did not make the results of that probe public.

The United States uses unmanned aircraft in its war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and to monitor militants in Pakistan, from where Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked fighters launch attacks in Afghanistan.

It also uses Predator armed drones to launch missile attacks aimed at militants in Pakistan's unstable northwestern border areas.

The campaign is deeply unpopular among an anti-American public and the government has publicly demanded an end to the attacks, although in private military and civilian leaders are thought to co-operate with the programme.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
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US surveillance drone crashes in Pakistan: officials
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/25/us-surveillance-drone-crashes-in-pakistan-officials.html/print/
Posted By AFP On August 25, 2011 @ 8:26 pm (2 hours ago) In Home > Top Stories,Latest News,Pakistan > Top Stories 1 | Comments Disabled

A Pakistani villager holds a wreckage of a suspected surveillance drone which is crashed in Pakistani border town of Chaman along the Afghanistan border in Pakistan on Thursday, Aug 25, 2011. - AP Photo/Shah Khalid

QUETTA: An American surveillance drone crashed in southwestern Pakistan on Thursday near a paramilitary base close to the Afghan border, Pakistani officials said.

“It was an American surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle. It crashed on this side of the border,” a security official in the area told AFP.

He said the drone had come down — apparently due to a technical fault — some two kilometres inside Pakistani territory in Chaman town in insurgency-hit Baluchistan province, but had caused no damage.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the wreckage of the aircraft had been recovered.

An official from Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps in Quetta, the province’s main town, confirmed the incident.

“Some spare parts and a camera were also found with it,” that official said. “It crashed near a Frontier Corps fort in Chaman but caused no damage.”

Such crashes of US aircraft are rare in Pakistan but one of the country’s own surveillance drones crashed in the city of Karachi in July after hitting a bird on a routine flight.
 
If it was a Predator or a Reaper, USAF would've sent its fighter or another drone to shoot it down.
it was a small one so they let it go
 
isi and army confirm the plan crash near to chaman it was survivlance plan maybe it was paf but still not conform

ISI is not press agency which could confirm this type of news. ISPR only authorised to speak from PA.
 
That is a pretty small drone, the one which can be launched by a HUMVEE crew. Small range as well. Camera if found, would be good for getting it's purpose.

If US wants the wreckage back this time, we should write on the wreckage "F*** OFF ".
 
That is a pretty small drone, the one which can be launched by a HUMVEE crew. Small range as well. Camera if found, would be good for getting it's purpose.

If US wants the wreckage back this time, we should write on the wreckage "F*** OFF ".

I doubt the cameras store video/photos, its all live feed.
 
Why are PAK ARMY and FC saying that the US drone crashed because of technical fault?
 
judging by the wreckage, it was probably not shot, because it is very much in a big chuny piece. Does not look like the Global Hawk or Predator either, probably a small one. And why the heck did the FC say that it crashed due to technical fault?, it was US drone right?
Maybe they have witnessed the event?
 
Hahahaaha lolz what must go up must also come down lolz hahahaha.
 
Maybe they have witnessed the event?

They witness drones on daily basis...not hard for them to instantly recognize it...
Saying it crashed due to technical fault to clear their name so that they dont start saying it has been shot down
 
It doesn't look like predator, moreover question here what purpose of drone flying along Balochistan border at night? Did Pakistan army aware from this night surveillance by US as it also could be possible that they used drones in Balochistan without PA’s knowledge?
 
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