US drone crashes in southern Afghanistan; no injuries

The US Air Force says that one of its drones has crashed at a base in southern Afghanistan but there were no casualties and no hostile fire is suspected.

In a statement, Capt Bryan L Bouchard says the MQ-9 Reaper went down at Kandahar Airfield late yesterday.

He says the cause is under investigation "but hostile fire was not a factor."

Kandahar Airfield, the largest base in Afghanistan, is being renovated by the US-NATO mission for mixed military and civilian use.