September 25, 2008	Thursday	Ramazan 24, 1429

MIRAMSHAH, Sept 24: The Pakistan army said on Wednesday it was investigating the crash of a suspected unmanned US spy plane near the Afghan border amid claims by tribesmen they had shot it down.

“A surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), while flying over the Pakistan-Afghan border yesterday night, crash-landed on this side of the border...apparently due to malfunctioning,” a Pakistan military spokesman said in a statement.

“The wreckage of the UAV has been recovered from the site by the security forces personnel and the matter is under detailed investigation,” the spokesman said.

The Pentagon said it had no report of any crash, while the CIA declined to comment.

“We have no reports of any loss of DoD (Department of Defence) drones,” said Lt-Col Mark Wright.

Pakistani officials said troops had not fired on the drone and that intelligence operatives had no reports of any gunfire when the vehicle was shot down.

But residents in the town of Angoor Adda, where the spy plane crashed, insisted tribesmen shot it down.

“This pilotless plane was flying over Waziristan unchecked overnight when it was shot down at low altitude by residents of the area near the Afghan border,” Malik Mirgul, a tribal elder in Angoor Adda, told AFP.

Tribesmen had picked up the felled drone but troops then retrieved it, officials said.

Residents said unmanned aircraft resumed flights over South Waziristan and neighbouring North Waziristan on Wednesday morning. They also launched sorties over the wreckage of the crashed drone.

In North Waziristan, tribesmen perched on hills opened fire on another spy plane that flew low over the town of Mir Ali, residents and local government officials said.—AFP