"We can confirm an MQ-1 crashed on its way to its recovery base in Iraq," Major Genieve David, a Pentagon spokesperson, told BuzzFeed News in an email.
— Conflict News (@rConflictNews) July 21, 2015
The unarmed aircraft was returning to base on July 16 when "technical complications caused a loss of communication," she said.
The drone was discovered by a shepherd near Samawa in the Muthana Province of southwestern Iraq, General Yahya al-Zubaidi, spokesman of the Joint Operation Command, told NBC News.
"I talked to US advisers and they confirmed that they lost a drone …," he said. "The shepherd called the police and a unit from the Samawa Police Directorate arrived at the location and they took it to the Al-Mamlaha police station."
Unverified pictures circulating on Twitter showed Iraqis posing for selfies in front of what appeared to be a crashed drone.
The MQ-1C Gray Eagle is manufactured by American defense contractor General Atomics and costs roughly $21 million per aircraft.
