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Israel downs drone

October 6, 2012

Israeli soldiers have begun searching for a drone shot down in Israeli air space early on Saturday. The Israeli military has said it doesn't know where the unmanned aircraft came from.

https://p.dw.com/p/16LgU
Heron 1 drone test flight Photo: Rheinmetall +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++
Image: picture alliance / dpa

The Israeli air force shot down an unidentified drone flying over the northern part of the Negev desert Saturday morning. The unmanned aircraft was first spotted by the Israeli air force over the Mediterranean Sea near the Gaza Strip flying toward west Israel, according to a military spokesperson.

"It was followed from the beginning until the time it was decided to intercept it and shoot it down for operational reasons over the Yatir Forest in the northern Negev, an uninhabited region," said military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich.

Initial reports indicated that the Israeli military did not know where the aircraft came from; however, it had already ruled out the Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers began trying to locate the drone in the Negev desert on Saturday near where the military had shot it down.

kms/tj (Reuters, AFP)