http://www.geo.tv/1-25-2010/57729.htm
Geo Television (Pakistan) January 25, 2010 Taliban claim shooting down US drone in NWA PESHAWAR: The Taliban in North Waziristan on Sunday claimed to have shot down a US drone in Hamzoni village near Miramshah and got hold of its wreckage. Government and military officials in Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, confirmed that a drone had crashed somewhere on the Pakistani side of the border but they did not know about the cause of the incident. They, however, said seven US drones were flying over the town on Sunday.In some of the areas, officials said, the drones were seen flying at a low altitude due to cloudy weather. .... [G]vernment officials...said the militants had installed some heavy weapons on hilltops and that they might have shot down the pilotless plane. “They have well-trained people for such types of job,” a senior official said but wished not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media. He said the militants used to fire at the US drones before but they were never able to hit and destroy the spy planes. On the other hand, sources among the Taliban led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur claimed they had fired at and destroyed the unmanned aircraft. Taking to media from North Waziristan, the Taliban said they possessed the weapons required for downing the aircraft. They said anti-aircraft guns were used in downing the CIA-operated spy plane. The militants also claimed their men were now in possession of the wreckage of the destroyed drone and would show it to the media. They said the drones were flying at a low altitude and shots were fired at one of the drones from anti-aircraft guns installed on a mountain peak. “It is our big success against our enemy today. Now they will shoot down many such planes,” an excited militant commander told media by phone. If true, it would be the second US spy aircraft downed in the tribal areas of Pakistan so far. Earlier in September 2008, the Taliban had claimed shooting down a US drone in South Waziristan. Later, the US forces in Afghanistan confirmed that their spy plane had crashed in the area. =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: rwroz...@yahoo.com or stopnato-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Daily digest option available. ==============================
