U.S. forces drop Iranian air drone

U.S. warplanes shot down an Iranian drone aircraft over Iraq last month, the U.S. military announced Monday.

The unmanned aircraft, identified as an Ababil 3, was followed for more than an hour Feb. 25 before military commanders ordered jets to fire on it about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

“This was not an accident on the part of the Iranians,” the military said. “The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was in Iraqi airspace for nearly one hour and 10 minutes and well inside Iraqi territory before it was engaged.”

Iraqi officials confirmed the incident, but were muted in their reaction. With ties to both Iran and the United States, the Iraqi government finds itself constantly balancing its interests between the two, breaking off diplomatic relations three decades ago after Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

KABUL, Afghanistan

NATO soldier killed in attack

A NATO soldier died of wounds received in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, the military alliance said today.

The death followed a surge in violence in Afghanistan over the weekend that led to the deaths of eight other foreign troops, including four Americans.

A NATO statement said the soldier died of his wounds Monday in southern Afghanistan, but it did not provide more details of the soldier’s death.

El Salvador

President-elect seeks U.S. ties

A charismatic former TV journalist promised to build strong ties with President Barack Obama and promote investor confidence Monday as he took El Salvador into uncharted territory by being elected its first leftist president.

Behind Mauricio Funes is a party of former Marxist guerrillas that fought to overthrow U.S.-backed governments in the 1980s and whose rise to power has raised fears of a communist regime in the war-scarred Central American country.

Funes, who gave up journalism less than two years ago to become the presidential candidate of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, sought to quell those concerns after his historic victory Sunday.

“Nothing traumatizing is going to happen here,” he said in an interview with local Megavision television. Funes, who takes office June 1, promised in his victory speech that strengthening ties with the U.S. would be a priority.

From wire reports