One of four unmanned planes (UAV) belonging to the Spanish military contingent in Afghanistan crashed yesterday afternoon near the Forward Support Base (FSB) in Herat. The wreckage has been collected and it is hoped that the plane can be repaired.

Designed to reduce the number of foot patrols, the Searcher MK II-J UAVs are capable of reaching targets up to 300km away and can stay in the air for up to twelve hours.

36 experts were deployed to service the UAVs, which arrived at the base last March.