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.