U.S. Drone Crashes in NW Pakistan

A U.S. drone crashed in northwest Pakistan's tribal district near the Afghan border late Saturday, officials said.

The unmanned reconnaissance aircraft came down in the mountainous Machikhel area about 30 kilometers east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan region, which is frequently targeted by drone strikes against Taliban and al-Qaida militants, military and security officials said.

"A U.S. drone crashed, apparently due to some technical fault," a military official in the northwestern city of Peshawar told Agence France Presse.

Security officials in the region confirmed the crash saying it fell in the mountains.

The crash site has been surrounded by militants, one security official said, refusing to confirm claims by some Taliban that the drone was shot down by insurgents.

Militants had taken away parts of the wreckage, a security official said.

President Barack Obama last month confirmed for the first time that U.S. drones target Taliban and al-Qaida militants on Pakistani soil, but American officials do not discuss details of the covert program.

At least 13 militants were killed in two drone attacks on February 16 in North Waziristan and a week earlier Badar Mansoor, described as the "de facto leader of al-Qaida in Pakistan" was killed in a missile strike, also in North Waziristan.

The United States says Pakistan's tribal belt provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting in Afghanistan, al-Qaida groups plotting attacks on the West, and Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb Pakistan, and other foreign fighters.

The U.S. strikes are deeply unpopular among the Pakistani public, who see the attacks as a violation of sovereignty and who blame the government's U.S. alliance for much of the violence plaguing the country.

U.S. diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks in late 2010 showed that Pakistan's civilian and military leaders privately supported the attacks, despite public condemnation.

According to an AFP tally, 45 U.S. missile strikes were reported in Pakistan's tribal belt in 2009, the year Obama took office, 101 in 2010 and 64 in 2011.

The program has dramatically increased as the Obama administration looks to withdraw all foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.