THE US military said today it had lost track of a small, unmanned surveillance plane over Baghdad as Islamic militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi's group claimed it shot down two such drones. "One of our UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), we have lost contact with it," said Major Philip Smith, a spokesman for the army in the Iraqi capital. The path of the small model-plane-sized Raven was last recorded at about 3pm local time (10pm AEST). It had been flying over the Haifa Street area, a Sunni insurgent stronghold. "Who knows what happened to it," said Major Smith.
An Internet statement in the name of the faction of the Jordanian-born Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man, said its fighters had downed two US surveillance aircraft. "The lions of Unity and Holy War shot down two American spy planes on Wednesday afternoon in Baghdad's Haifa Street," the group said in a statement signed by its "military branch". The message was posted on the Islamist website http://www.ansarnet.ws/vb but its authenticity could not be independently verified. The statement was carried by "Abu Maissara al-Iraqi", whose reports of the Zarqawi group are normally considered to be genuine.
| As long as it doesn't involve anything that can shoot back, the "lions of Unity and Holy War" are a brave bunch. |
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