Nato loses Libya drone helicopter

Libyan state TV showed images of a downed helicopter

Nato has lost an unmanned helicopter drone involved in the Libyan campaign, a Nato spokesman has said.

Wing Cmdr Mike Bracken said Nato’s command centre in Naples had lost contact with the aircraft at 0720 GMT.

The helicopter was carrying out reconnaissance over Libya “to monitor [leader Muammar] Gaddafi’s forces threatening the civilian population”, he said.

Wing Cmdr Bracken said no attack helicopters had been lost.

“We are looking into the reasons behind the incident,” he added.

Earlier, Libyan state television said pro-government forces had shot down an Apache helicopter in the western district of Zlitan.

Nato deployed UK and French Apache attack helicopters in Libya earlier this month during its UN-sponsored mission to protect civilians from forces loyal to Col Gaddafi.

Nato officials have not identified the exact type of drone helicopters being used, but analysts say the alliance has been operating the MQ-8 Fire Scout helicopter drone, made by US firm Northrop Grumman.

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