Armed drone shot down near US base in northern Iraq - sources

Earlier, two security sources said an armed drone was intercepted and shot down at around 7:10 pm local time and a blast was heard near the airport. But the earlier attack was denied by counter-terrorism service and it said in a statement no drone was shut down.

Defence systems shot down an armed drone on Thursday over Erbil airport in northern Iraq, where U.S. and other international forces are stationed, Iraqi Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service said.

The Iraqi semi-autonomous Kurdistan region's security agency said in a statement an armed drone fired by "outlaw militia" against Erbil airport was shot down at 11:06 p.m. Iraq time. Earlier, two security sources said an armed drone was intercepted and shot down at around 7:10 pm local time and a blast was heard near the airport.

But the earlier attack was denied by counter-terrorism service and it said in a statement no drone was shut down. Separately, an unidentified army drone crashed in eastern Diyala province, which borders Iran, on Thursday evening, said security officials.

Iraqi security forces sealed off the crash site, around 60 km (40 miles) to the east of the city of Baquba, police sources said. Security officials said parts of wreckage from the crashed drone were taken for further investigation to determine the drone's identity which has not yet been uncovered.