http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/war-zones/pakistani-military-and-taliban-militants-fight-over-downed-drone/2011/09/18/gIQABO6VcK_story.html

Pakistani troops, Taliban militants fight over downed U.S. drone

By Karin Brulliard and Haq Nawaz Khan

9/18/2011

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistani troops battled Taliban militants Sunday morning to win control of the remnants of an CIA drone that crashed in the nation's borderlands, according to Pakistani security officials.

The cause of the crash of the unmanned Predator drone, which the CIA uses to fire missiles at Taliban and al-Qaeda hideouts in the rocky region bordering Afghanistan, remained in dispute hours after it was downed in Zangarha village in South Waziristan. A military intelligence official based in the nearest city, Wana, said the drone suffered a mechanical failure. The Pakistani Taliban, a domestic offshoot of the Afghan insurgent organization, said its fighters had shot it down.

Pakistan's restive tribal belt is a no-go zone for journalists and outsiders, making it impossible to verify the accounts of the crash. U.S. officials do not publicly acknowledge or discuss the covert drone program, and the CIA declined to comment Sunday on the crash reports. The Pakistani security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

But if true, the crash would be among very few in the seven-year history of the drone campaign in Pakistan, and it could risk the exposure of extremely sensitive technology, including cameras and other sensors used to monitor insurgents. While the Taliban might have little tactical use for the debris, some of Pakistan's allies -- including Iran and China -- might be interested in it.

In May, an American helicopter crashed during the U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the northwestern city of Abbottabad, and U.S. officials later said they suspected, but had not confirmed, that Pakistan gave the Chinese access to the largely destroyed helicopter. Pakistani officials denied doing so.

John Pike, a weapons expert at Globalsecurity.org, said Sunday's drone crash could expose sensitive systems, but that it would be difficult for adversaries to use the wreckage to replicate technology or adopt surveillance counter-measures. While the Chinese, for example, have sought to develop drone platforms and might gain insight from the downed U.S. aircraft, they already have a general understanding of drone capabilities. The downed copter, by contrast, used stealth technologies that had not previously been disclosed.

"I don't think the Chinese can do much more with it than the Taliban," Pike said.

Drone strikes, which have skyrocketed during the Obama administration, are a growing source of tension between the United States and Pakistan, long-wary allies whose relationship has worsened this year. For years, the Pakistani government has tacitly allowed the program while publicly protesting it and asking the United States to share its drone technology. But private Pakistani support for the drone campaign has waned as public outrage over it rises.

According to two Pakistani security officials, the drone crashed Sunday near a military base and Taliban militants quickly attempted to seize the debris. But they said Pakistani troops confronted the fighters and were able to collect the drone remnants after a clash of nearly four hours. Three militants were killed and two soldiers were injured in the fighting, an official from the paramilitary Frontier Corps said.

A Taliban spokesman who identified himself as Saifullah Sayab said in a phone interview that 25 fighters used an anti-aircraft gun to shoot down the drone. The Pakistan army deployed a gunship helicopter to repel the Taliban, he said.

Khan is a special correspondent. Staff writer Greg Miller contributed to this report from Washington.