ISLAMABAD – The US military claims that Russian air defenses shot down anAmerican drone over the Libyan capital last month, demanding Moscow returnthe aircraft’s wreckage.
In a statementlinkreleasedon November 22, the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said it had “lost” aremotely piloted aircraft (RPA) over Tripoli the previous day during whatit called operations “to assess the ongoing security situation and monitorviolent extremist activity. ”
It did not give a reason for the drone’s loss, noting that the incident wasunder investigation.
On Saturday, General Stephen Townsend, head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM),said he believed the operators of the air defenses “didn’t know it was a USremotely piloted aircraft when they fired on it.”
“But they certainly know who it belongs to now and they are refusing toreturn it. They say they don’t know where it is but I am not buying it,” hetold Reuters.
Townsend also pointed the finger at Russia over latest chaos in Tripoli,saying, “This highlights the malign influence of Russian mercenaries actingto influence the outcome of the civil war in Libya, and who are directlyresponsible for the recent and sharp increase in fighting, casualties anddestruction around Tripoli.”
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Libya has been torn apart by violence between rival armed groups since2011, when a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictatorMuammar Gaddafi.
In April, the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) force, led byrenegade general Khalifa Haftar, launched an offensive for control of thecapital and has since been battling forces aligned with the Tripoli-basedGovernment of National Accord (GNA).
Also on Saturday, AFRICOM spokesman Air Force Colonel Chris Karns said theUS assessment had concluded that either Russian private militarycontractors or the LNA had been operating the air defenses at the time theAmerican drone was lost.
Washington, he added, believed that the air defense operators had fired onthe US aircraft after “mistaking it for an opposition” drone.
