Syria shoots down "hostile" U.S. drone, says state news agency

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria's state news agency says the country's air defense forces have shot down a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft.

"Syrian air defenses brought down a hostile U.S. surveillance plane in northern Latakia," SANA said in a statement, without giving further details.

A U.S. defense official confirmed to CBS News that the U.S. lost control of an unarmed MQ-1 Predator drone that was flying over northwest Syria. The official said there was no immediate information to determine whether it was shot down or crashed.

The pilotless surveillance drone went down close to the border of Turkey in Ibn Hani district, a different source told CBS News. The source said Syrian army units were put on high alert and security forces closed the area where the aircraft crashed.

State television broadcast footage of what it said was the wreckage, including a wheel and electronic parts. Soldiers in camouflage could be seen loading some of the debris into the back of a truck.

If confirmed, this would be the first American aircraft to go down over Syria since the U.S. began its aerial campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, there in September.

A Jordanian jet crashed near the northern Syrian city of Raqqa in December. ISIS captured the pilot and later killed him.