Low-flying drone crashes in Pakistan

A U.S. military drone crashed in northern Pakistan Saturday night, a Pakistani official said. Elements of the Taliban claimed they had shot down the unmanned aircraft, but a Dawn News source said it appeared the drone experienced a mechanical problem while patrolling the Machikhel area in North Waziristan Agency. Residents of the area told Dawn the skies had been busy in recent days with numerous drones being spotted. Although U.S. drones are known to operate at high altitudes, witnesses said they could see them, and the Taliban claimed in a statement the drone that went down was flying low enough to be hit by their rifle fire. There was no comment from the United States on the apparent crash or what its mission was.