Jordan says it downed second drone from Syria this week

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Jordan Armed Forces conduct site exploitation of a notional downed unmanned aerial vehicle during a joint drill with U.S. Army Special Operations Forces at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center in Jordan, Sept. 2, 2019. (U.S. Army photo)

AMMAN (Reuters) - The Jordanian army shot down a drone carrying weapons from Syria on Friday, the military said, the second time this week Jordan has downed an unmanned aircraft flying into its territory from neighbouring Syria.

A statement reported by state news agency Petra said the drone was shot down in Jordanian territory and was found to be carrying weapons, without giving further details.

The army said on Tuesday it had downed a drone carrying drugs from Syria. Jordan has blamed pro-Iranian militias, who it says are protected by units within the Syrian army, for smuggling drugs across its borders towards Gulf markets.

Damascus says it is doing its best to curb smuggling and continues to bust smuggler rings in the south. It denies complicity by Iranian-backed militias linked to its army and security forces.

(Reporting by Jana Choukeir; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Louise Heavens)