Two 'Western spy drones' shot down in the gulf : Iran

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have shot down two Western spy drones in the Gulf, the local media reported on Sunday.

This is the first such incident in the country. Local media however quoted a senior Iranian commander as claiming that many such drones have been shot down over the past few months. Authorities in Tehran are yet to produce supporting evidence of such incidents. They also claimed that the western drones committed 'some violations' in the country's border regions.

Drones are generally deployed in conflict zones of Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. However, the usage is heavily criticized for inflicting several civilian causalities. Over the past five years, more than 2,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in US drone attacks in Pakistan.

The Conflict Monitoring Centre (CMC) in its latest report stated that 2010 witnessed the highest number of causalities of drone-hits in northwestern Pakistan. More than 130 drone attacks were reported over the past year. On Saturday, the first day of 2011, at least 19 people were reportedly killed in three US drone attacks in Mirali, North Waziristan Agency and Muhammad Khail, South Waziristan.