Rifle Shot May Have Downed Israeli Drone That Crashed in Lebanon

(Bloomberg) -- An Israeli drone crashed in southern Lebanon in the second such episode in six weeks, as conflicting accounts emerged almost immediately after the incident on Wednesday morning.

Israel’s army said on Twitter that its unmanned military drone “fell” during “routine activity to secure the border.”

But according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, an “enemy drone” was shot down by a civilian using a hunting rifle in the southern town of Fatima Gate.

Local news outlets posted footage of the alleged downing.

Israel frequently uses drones for surveillance across its borders. In a similar incident last month, it confirmed that one of its devices “fell” in Lebanon, after the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group reported that it downed an unmanned Israeli aerial vehicle.

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