Syria: We Shot Down US Drone

Syria's air defenses have shot down a US reconnaissance aircraft in a northwestern province along the Mediterranean coast, according to state media. A US official says a Predator drone went down in Syria yesterday, but it's not clear whether it was shot down. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the Pentagon had not yet announced the loss, says US officials are trying to determine why operators of the drone lost control of it.

Syria's SANA state news agency says the aircraft was downed north of the coastal city of Latakia; it provided no further details. State television broadcast footage of what it said was the wreckage, including a wheel and electronic parts. Soldiers in camouflage could be seen loading some of the debris into the back of a truck. If confirmed, it would be the first American aircraft to go down over Syria since the US expanded its aerial campaign against ISIS to the country in September. (Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is also fighting ISIS, says his government is informed of coalition airstrikes against the militants.)