Beledweyne(DIIRAD)-An unmanned aerial vehicle operated by the US military has crashed in southern Somalia near the Horn of African country's border with Kenya .

The remotely-controlled aircraft went down on the outskirts of Kalaberka town, which is located in Somalia's south-central region of Hiiran, on Saturday.

Local residents said that they heard a massive explosion after the aircraft crashed and caught fire.

Earlier on Saturday, 16 civilians were killed and 19 others injured after one such drone fired several missiles at Kulbiyow village in the Lower Juba region in the south of the country.

Somalia is the sixth country, where the United States has used the aircraft to launch deadly missile strikes.

The US military has also used the drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally-displaced people in the world.