Iraq Says It Shoots Down Second US Spy PlaneIraqi air defense forces on Tuesday shot down a US spy plane over southern Iraq, an Iraqi military spokesman announced.In a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA), the spokesman said the plane was downed over Iraq's southern Basra Province. "The enemy has used the plane to secure the needed information, such as information related to Iraq's installations and vital targets, for its command," the spokesman was quoted as saying. Iraqi television will show the footage of downed U.S. plane, the spokesman added. This was the second U.S. spy plane Iraq claimed to have shot down since the 1991 Gulf War. Iraq said on August 27 that its anti- aircraft artillery brought down an unmanned U.S. reconnaissance plane over the southern no-fly zone. The southern no-fly zone, along with another one in northern Iraq, were set up by the U.S.-led Western allies in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War to keep Iraqi President Saddam Hussein at bay. Iraq has never recognized the air exclusion zones and has regularly fired at the U.S. and British planes monitoring them. Iraq has vowed to beef up its air defense to bring down more allied planes. |
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