Yemen Air Force ‘sabotaged’: Crashed jet was downed

Yemen’s Air Force has been the target of “sabotage,” the country’s military aviation chief said in a televised interview, days after a fighter jet crashed in the capital Sanaa. “The air force is the target of systematic sabotage,” Gen. Rashed Al-Janad told the private channel Al-Saida in the interview. He said the Sukhoi SU-22 that crashed in Sanaa last Monday, killing the pilot, was caused by “shots hitting the aircraft” as it prepared to land at a base next to the capital’s airport. “The black box of the aircraft was hit” in the attack, he said without giving further details. He quoted witnesses as saying the jet had exploded 50 meters above the ground. The air force said it would open an investigation into the crash, the second time a Sukhoi jet has crashed over the capital since the start of the year. On Feb. 19, a Yemeni air force jet crashed into a residential area of Sanaa, killing 12 people, including the pilot. Janad said an Antonov M26 that came down north of Sanaa in November 2012 “had also been hit by shots that caused a fire in one of its engines.” Source: ArabNews