Washington, Nov 23 (AFP) US forces have lost an unarmed drone aircraft over Libya, where well-armed rebels are battling for power with a UN-recognized government, the Pentagon announced Friday.

"An unarmed US Africa Command remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) was lost over Tripoli, Libya" on Thursday, the command said in a statement.

No reason was given for the loss, and the Africa Command said it was under investigation.

The command conducts drone operations in Libya "to assess the ongoing security situation and monitor violent extremist activity," it said.

"These operations are critical to counter terror activity in Libya and are fully coordinated with appropriate government officials."

The US drone loss came a day after forces loyal to Libya's rebel strongman Khalifa Haftar said they shot down an Italian drone in western Libya, flying in a zone under their control.

US activities in the country have both monitored the conflict between the government and Haftar's forces, and the growing power of an Islamic State-allied jihadist cell in the country's southwest.

In September the US Africa Command conducted several air strikes against the Libyan IS force, and claimed it had killed dozens. (AFP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)