An unarmed U.S. Predator drone aircraft went down in Syria, but it’s not clear whether it was shot down as claimed by the Syrian government, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Syria’s SANA state news agency said Tuesday that the country’s air defenses shot down a U.S. drone in a northwestern province along the Mediterranean coast.

A U.S. defense official said that at about 1:40 p.m. EDT, U.S. military controllers lost contact with an MQ-1 Predator over northwest Syria. The official said there was no information to corroborate the claim that it had been shot down.

The U.S. official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, so spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. drones are operated over Syria to provide reconnaissance of certain parts of the country.

(AP)