ISIS has claimed it has shot down an armed Iraqi Air Force Cessna with a 57mm anti-aircraft gun near the city of Kirkuk.

The terrorist organization has released footage showing the aircraft banking at an extreme angle as it plummets to the ground.

The Iraqi Air Force has admitted it has lost the Cessna 208 Caravan, which was armed with Hellfire missiles, but blamed the crash on a 'technical fault'.

A second section of video shows the wreckage of a green aircraft with the tail number YI-119, which was from Squadron 3, Iraqi Air Force.

It was reported that among the wreckage was what appeared to be the rear section of a Hellfire missile.

The aircraft, which was carrying three crew was on a reconnaissance flight when it crashed. 

A military source told AFP that authorities had launched a search for the crew after the Cessna 208 Caravan went down near Kirkuk, around 135 miles north of Baghdad.

In its combat version, the aircraft can be used to launch laser-guided Hellfire missiles.

ISIS claimed in a statement posted on Twitter and a video released moments later that its fighters had shot the plane down, killing five crew members.

It said it used anti-aircraft artillery against a plane that had been on a bombing run against the city of Hawijah, a stronghold of the terrorists in Kirkuk province.

A video - which claims to show the moment the aircraft was shot down - released by the terrorists organisation shows the wreckage of a plane that could be a Cessna Caravan.

The footage also shows Isis fighters celebrating around body parts, some of which are floating in a small canal.

Iraqi forces have been making gains against the terrorists in recent months as they seek to reclaim territory seized by ISIS during a major offensive in 2014; Abna24 reported.

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