VICTORIA ?- A US drone aircraft crashed at Seychelles International Airport on Tuesday, the US embassy in Mauritius said. ?

"A US Air Force remote-piloted MQ-9 crashed at the Seychelles International Airport in Mahe. The MQ-9 was not armed and no injuries were reported," the embassy said in a statement.

The Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) confirmed the incident and said that the plane was on a "routine patrol" and had crashed because of mechanical failure. ?

The US embassy did not comment on the plane's mission and said that the cause of the crash was unknown.

Iran announced on December 4 it had downed a US drone in the eastern part of the country, near Afghanistan. It has since shown the plane on television and said it is close to cracking its technological secrets. ?