U.S. military says jets shot down Iranian surveillance aircraft

BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. jets shot down an Iranian unmanned surveillance aircraft last month over Iraqi territory about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Monday.

A U.S. statement said the Ababil 3 was tracked for about 70 minutes before U.S. jets shot it down “well-inside Iraqi airspace” and that the aircraft’s presence over Iraq “was not an accident.”

An Iraqi official said the Iranian aircraft went down near the Iraqi border town of Mandali. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The Ababil is believed to have a maximum range of about 90 miles and can fly up to 14,000 feet. It is primarily designed for surveillance and intelligence-gathering.

U.S. officials have frequently accused the Iranians of supplying weapons, training and money to Shiite extremist groups opposed to the U.S. military presence and to the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.

Iran has denied links to militant groups inside Iraq and says the instability in this country is a result of the U.S. “occupation.” The Iranians consider the presence of about 140,000 U.S. troops in a neighboring country as a threat to their national security.

In Baghdad, a U.S. soldier was fatally injured during combat operations Monday, the U.S. said in a statement. No further details were released.

It was the first combat death reported by the U.S. military in Baghdad this month and the first among U.S. forces nationwide since March 7, when a soldier was killed in the Tikrit area.

U.S. casualties have dropped sharply since Iraqi soldiers and police have taken a greater role in security. President Barack Obama has pledged to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by September 2010.

American combat troops are due to leave bases in Baghdad and other cities by June 30 under an agreement that provides for all U.S. forces to leave the country by the end of 2011.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told The Associated Press on Sunday that U.S. troops may stay in some areas that are not completely secure even after the June 30 date.

He did not identify those areas, but U.S. and Iraqi troops are still trying to secure Mosul, the country’s third-largest city where al-Qaida and other Sunni militant groups remain active.

Also Monday, a 12-year-old girl was killed when American soldiers fired at a vehicle speeding toward them and Iraqi police near Mosul, said the U.S. military. The military said the girl was standing about 100 yards behind the vehicle and was struck by a round.

But Iraqi police said the girl was shot while in a car with her father. The discrepancy could not be immediately explained.