In a statement on Friday, the Resistance, an umbrella group of Iraqi anti-terror forces, claimed responsibility for downing the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with "appropriate weapons."
It said it had brought down the "MQ-9 Reaper" drone over the Diyala Province, saying the aircraft had entered the country's airspace after taking off from neighboring Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Airbase.
The US military describes the MQ-9 as the first "hunter-killer" UAV that has been designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance.
Concluding the statement, the Resistance vowed to "keep up its attacks on the enemy."
Over the past years, the umbrella group has been staging many similar operations against targets associated with the United States as a means of resisting US occupation.
The umbrella group has stepped up its attacks against Israeli and American targets since October 7 in protest at the Israeli regime's yet-ongoing genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, and Washington's all-out military and political support for the onslaught.
Nearing 24,800 Palestinians, mostly women, children, and adolescents, have been killed so far in the Israeli military campaign that began following an operation staged by Gaza's Resistance movements.
The US has been providing Israel with unbridled military and political support in its brutal campaign of aggression, arming Tel Aviv with more than 10,000 tons of military hardware.
Washington has also torpedoed the prospect of cessation of the Israeli war by stonewalling ratification of all United Nations Security Council resolutions that have been calling for the implementation of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
AMK/PressTV