Unmanned US Spy Plane Crashes in Philippine Sea

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, March 31, 2002

Unmanned US Spy Plane Crashes in Philippine Sea

An unmanned US aircraft used in military exercises against Filipino Muslim guerrillas linked to al Qaeda crashed into the sea in the southern Philippines on Sunday, officials said.

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An unmanned US aircraft used in military exercises against Filipino Muslim guerrillas linked to al Qaeda crashed into the sea in the southern Philippines on Sunday, officials said.

There was no immediate information on what caused the crash, Philippine military spokesman Captain Noel Detoyato told Reuters.

The aircraft, called an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), went into the sea off Zamboanga city, 860 miles south of Manila.

US and Philippine military officials said the plane was one of several UAVs being used to gather information about the location of the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, whom the United States has linked to Islamic militant Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

It was the second US plane taking part in the exercises in the southern Philippines to crash in little over a month.

Ten American servicemen were killed on February 22 when a US special forces helicopter crashed into the sea after ferrying troops to nearby Basilan island, where US soldiers are training local forces to upgrade their skills in fighting the Abu Sayyaf.

The Abu Sayyaf has been holding a US missionary couple and a Filipina nurse hostage for more than 10 months on Basilan, a largely Muslim island.

Source: Agencies

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