03 January 2005	Monday	21 Ziqa'ad 1425

PESHAWAR, Jan 2: An unmanned US surveillance plane crashed near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan in the rugged tribal terrain of North Waziristan, officials said on Sunday.

The Predator crashed near the border town of Ghulam Killi facing the troubled south eastern Afghan province of Khost late Saturday, they said. "It crashed a few hundred metres inside Pakistan territory near Ghulam Killi," military spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said.

"It might have been flying on the other side of the border but could have been drifted away when it crashed," Maj-Gen Shaukat told AFP. A security official here said the plane apparently crashed due to some technical problem.

"Initial investigation gives no lead to suspect militants could have shot it down," the official said, requesting anonymity. The area is located close to turbulent South Waziristan tribal zone where thousands of Pakistani troops are deployed to track down Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, who are believed to have crossed from Afghanistan after the extremist regime was ousted in late 2001.

The US-led coalition has more than 18,000 troops in Afghanistan mostly fighting Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants in south and southeast Afghanistan.