Suspected US drone floating in Philippines
2013-01-07 22:03
Manila - Philippine
navy officials said on Monday a suspected American drone has been found
floating in the ocean off a central province, prompting them to deploy a ship
with ordnance experts after fishermen reported the object may have been a bomb.
The 3m orange BQM-74e drone marked "Navy" was
found by a Filipino diver and fishermen off Masbate Island on Sunday and has
been turned over to local navy authorities, Philippine navy officer Captain
Jason Rommel Galang said, adding it was not clear why the unmanned aerial
vehicle ended up off Masbate.
US embassy spokesperson Bettina Malone said efforts were
under way to determine if the drone was one of those used in American military
air target training exercises and why it was in the waters off Masbate, about
380km southeast of Manila.
The type of drone found was not armed and not used
for surveillance, she said.
Masbate is in a region where communist guerrillas have a
presence. US counter-terrorism troops, who are barred from local combat, have
used surveillance drones to help Filipino soldiers track down al-Qaeda-linked
extremists in the country's south.
At least two US drones have been reported to have crashed
and were recovered by villagers in the past on southern Mindanao island.
- AP
