Washington (CNN) -- When unmanned aircraft crash in Afghanistan, scavenger hunters frequently aren't far behind, U.S. military incident reports published by WikiLeaks suggest.
On several occasions, military units sent to recover the aircraft -- known as tactical unmanned aerial vehicles -- have arrived to find the aircraft stripped of valuable parts.
In April 2007, a parachute deployed on one that had maintenance issues, one report says. Troops sent to recover the aircraft couldn't reach it until the next day, when they discovered it was missing some of its electronic components and its payload.
The report said the Afghan National Police and local elders "will continue to work with [local residents] to recover any pieces that were collected by inappropriate personnel".
Similarly, a report on an unmanned aerial vehicle that crashed in March 2008 reads: "The nose of the UAV is missing and the engine is burned. There are multiple footprints in the area from locals".
Also, in November 2008, a drone had a hard landing with its parachute deployed. The aircraft was destroyed, the report said, but "several components in good condition were grabbed by LN [local residents] before the QRF [quick reaction force] arrival".
CNN
