Drone crashes in northern Iraq, US military says

[David]

AP


BAGHDAD – A U.S. military drone crashed Saturday in northern Iraq, hitting a regional office of Iraq's largest Sunni political party in an area that remains an insurgent stronghold, an American military official said.

The unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicle crashed into the local office of the Iraqi Islamic Party in Mosul, an area the U.S. military has called the last stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Drones have been a mainstay of the U.S. war effort, offering round-the-clock airborne "eyes" watching over road convoys and tracking insurgent movements and occasionally unleashing missiles on a target.

The U.S. military did not immediately identify the type of drone that crashed in Mosul where the aerial vehicles are routinely used to track insurgents planting explosives.

There was no immediate indication the drone was shot down, said Maj. Derrick Cheng, a U.S. military spokesman. There were no reports of injuries.

Cheng said the drone struck the party office at about 7 a.m., damaging the roof of the building.

American troops recovered the drone and were working with local officials to assess the required repairs, he said.

Cheng said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

Also Saturday, Iraqi security teams recaptured two more prisoners from a stunning jailbreak that included al-Qaida-linked prisoners sentenced to death, a police official said.

At least eight of the 16 fugitive prisoners have been hunted down following this week's jailbreak, which deeply embarrassed Iraqi authorities as they struggle to upgrade detention facilities before absorbing thousands more inmates from U.S. forces by next year.

A police official said the two men were found near Tikrit, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Baghdad and not far from the makeshift prison where the prisoners climbed through a bathroom window late Wednesday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. An official at the Interior Ministry — also speaking on condition of anonymity — confirmed the arrests.

The escape touched off a massive manhunt that included Iraqi military forces and U.S. aircraft. The government also opened a sweeping investigation that is expected to examine whether the prisoners had any inside help.

More than 100 prison officials and guards have been detained for questioning. Authorities also fired Col. Mohammed Saleh al-Jubouri, the head of the anti-terrorism department for Salahuddin province, where Tikrit is located.

Violence has fallen off dramatically in Iraq since 2007, though insurgents continue to target civilians and security forces.

A roadside bomb exploded Saturday near a park in Fallujah, killing two, said a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason as the others.