'We hope to get our pilots alive,' Nigerian air force says, as military plane disappears from radar
(CNN)The Nigerian air force says it has yet to establish the whereabouts of a military plane that disappeared off the radar Wednesday evening near Borno -- an insurgency troubled state in the country's northeast region.
A
Nigerian air force spokesman told CNN Thursday afternoon that the
fighter jet had been deployed to provide air support to ground troops,
who were under fire from Boko Haram fighters before radar contact was
lost.
"We
don't know if there is a crash yet. We remain very hopeful that we will
get our pilots alive ... we are very optimistic about that, but at the
moment we can't say what has happened to the aircraft," said Air
Commodore Edward Gabkwet.
Gabkwet
did not immediately confirm how many airmen were on board the aircraft.
He, however, told CNN that the missing plane was not the only fighter
jet on routine operation at the time of its disappearance.
"We had two other aircraft within the vicinity, so it's strange to us that it went missing," he said.
"The
aircraft disappeared from radar at about 5:08 p.m on Wednesday -- in an
area that's barely 80km out of Borno State. It was on a mission to give
fire cover to our troops who were coming under intense fire from Boko
Haram insurgents," Gabkwet added.
The incident came just over a month after an aircraft belonging to the Nigerian air force crashed
after take-off from Abuja -- killing everyone on board. The plane was
on a mission to rescue kidnapped schoolchildren in Niger State,
northwest Nigeria, the then spokesman for the air force told CNN.
Speaking
on efforts to trace the missing plane, Gabkwet said the Chief of Air
Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, had arrived at Maiduguri, the Borno
capital -- where he "was briefed on ongoing search and rescue efforts in
connection with the missing Alpha Jet aircraft."
Boko
Haram has increased attacks against the Nigerian military as it tries
to regain control of lost territories in pockets of Nigeria's northeast.
Frequent air raids by the Nigerian military have continued to rattle the insurgents -- dislodging them from their hideouts.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/02/africa/nigeria-military-plane-disappears-intl/index.html
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