US drone shot down in Somalia

Local fighters say they have shot down a suspected United States operated aerial vehicle in the south of Somalia near the capital, Mogadishu. Press TV reported.

Fighters say the drone crashed into the sea after it was hit near the lower Shabelle region in Merka town, located south of the capital.

The fighters say six other drones have been seen flying over Mogadishu and the nearby town of Merka.

Numerous US remote-controlled drones have in the past few weeks crashed in Somalia.

Drone attacks in Somalia make the lawless state the sixth country where the US military has used remote-controlled aircraft to conduct such lethal strikes.

The United States has now employed drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq and Yemen to launch aerial bombings.

Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.