Iraq says it forced down allied spy drone

U.S. denies enemy fire caused pilotless plane's crash

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Iraq says it forced a pilotless reconnaissance allied plane to land Sunday in the northern part of the country, the official state media reported Monday.

In Washington, U.S. military officials confirmed an unmanned Predator surveillance plane crashed Sunday in Iraq, but U.S. Central Command denied the allegation from the Baghdad government that Iraqi forces caused the downing.

Marine Cmdr. Ernest Duplessis, a spokesman at U.S. Central Command, said Monday that the plane did not come under fire as it flew a routine mission as part of Operation Southern Watch over Iraq. Allied forces began patrolling "no-fly" zones over northern and southern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War.

Duplessis said the plane crashed for unknown reasons as it approached a landing strip at an undisclosed location.

He said an investigation is under way to learn the cause of the crash, which happened while the plane was being flown by remote control. He was not aware of any electronic jamming that could have caused pilots on the ground to lose control.

Four of the $3.5 million advanced surveillance drones have crashed since late last year -- three while deployed by the military in Afghanistan. None has been lost to enemy fire, according to the United States.

The CIA also has been using the Predator around Afghanistan in a configuration that includes weapons that can be targeted and fired by remote control.

The aircraft that crashed Sunday in Iraq was unarmed, and the wreckage has been completely recovered, officials at U.S. Central Command said.

But Iraqi media aired footage Monday of what it says was the downed drone.

The Iraqi News Agency quoted an unnamed spokesman for the air defense command who said that "a pilotless plane violated our airspace in the northern region of Iraq to carry out aggressive spying acts" at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

The official added that "the plane was monitored by our air defenses, controlled by our own means and forced to land inside our territories," the agency reported.

It did not say exactly where the incident occurred. The official said the plane belonged to "the enemy."

-- CNN Producer Rym Brahimi in Baghdad contributed to this report.