Ethiopian Army Admits To Shooting Down A Kenyan Airplane

Ethiopian forces in Somalia have admitted to shooting down a Kenyan-registered aircraft in Bardale, Somalia killing six people on board.

According to a preliminary report filed by the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), the Ethiopian Forces guarding Bardelle airstrip in Baidoa claim they shot down the plane which was carrying medical supplies on ‘mistaken identity.’

The Ethiopian troops say they interpreted the plane’s unusual flight towards the facility as a potential suicide mission saying that the crew did not inform the base of any aircraft flying their way.

The ministry of foreign affairs is yet to react to the preliminary investigation report.

The African Airline plane had been chartered to carry out the supply of medicine in Sector III of Somalia. It remains unclear whether indeed the military base was unaware of the supply.

On Tuesday, May 5, Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo made a telephone call to President Uhuru Kenyatta to express his regret and convey condolences for the loss of life in the plane crash.

Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement to newsrooms, said President Farmajo informed President Kenyatta that he had instructed Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authorities to immediately mount an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

He further extended an invitation to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) to team with their Somalia counterparts in order to complete the investigations expeditiously.