U.S. drone crashes in northern Iraq - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

U.S. drone crashes in northern Iraq

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 around-the-clock airborne “eyes” watching over road convoys and tracking insurgent movements, and occasionally unleashing missiles on a target.

The U.S. military identified the crashed drone as a Shadow model, which is routinely used in areas like Mosul to track insurgents planting explosives and does not carry weapons.

There was no immediate indication the drone was shot down and the cause of the crash was under investigation, 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.

“It was only by coincidence that the UAV impacted the Mosul Islamic Party headquarters,” Cheng said, referring to the unmanned aerial vehicle by its initials. American troops have since recovered the drone.

Yahya Abid Mahjob, a senior party member, said the drone hit the roof and then crashed into the back yard. He added that the party was calling on the U.S. military to take more precautions with their drones.

It’s the second time this month that a drone has crashed in Iraq. On Sept. 14, a U.S. Air Force Predator crashed in central Iraq, causing no injuries or damage, the military said.

The Predator is used for reconnaissance and surveillance, and it can also fire Hellfire missiles.

More jail-break prisoners caught

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 of inmates from U.S. forces by next year.

A police official said the two men were found near Tikrit, about 80 miles north of Baghdad and not far from the makeshift prison where the prisoners climbed through a bathroom window late Sept. 23.

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.

Gunmen killed an off-duty policeman during a drive-by shooting Saturday in central Mosul, police said.

In western Iraq, 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.

In Baghdad, the U.S. military released 23 members of a Shiite militant faction blamed for the abduction of five British citizens from Iraq’s finance ministry in 2007. One of the hostages is believed still alive and possibly held by the group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous.

The group is demanding the release of all Shiite militiamen held by U.S. forces. But it agreed in August to lay down its weapons and join the political process.

The prisoners freed by American forces were not accused of direct involvement in the kidnapping, but the release could offer more room for negotiations on the fate of the remaining British hostage still believed to be alive — Peter Moore, who was working for a U.S.-based management consulting firm.

In northern Iraq, at least six suspected insurgents were killed in a raid by Iraqi police about 50 miles northwest of Kirkuk, said Col. Khalil al-Zobaie, an Iraqi Army spokesman. At least five Iraqi soldiers were wounded in the shootout.