Belarusian Plane in Somalia was transporting armaments? :: Charter'97 :: News

There are reports on internet according to which the first Belarusian plane Il-76 EW-78826 belonging to the state-run Transaviaexport company shot down in Somalia, was transporting not a humanitarian cargo, but infantry fighting vehicles for Ugandan troops. “A missile hit between chassis, penetrated the fuselage and hit the infantry fighting vehicle. It exploded. Engineers and loadmasters were saved by that armoured fighting vehicle. Otherwise they would be wounded by the blast and cut splinters… they were lucky and landed the plane…” an anonymous pilot informed.

As we have informed, another crew was sent to transport the equipment from the plane that had been brought down, but it was killed.

As a result of the fire on board of Il-76 of the Belarusian state-run Transaviaexport company brought down on March 9 in Somalia, losses of more than 1.7 billion rubles were inflicted (about USD 790,000). This information was published by the republican prosecutor’s office in the report about initiating a criminal action on facts of Belarusian planes’ crashes on March 9 and 23 over Mogadishu, Somalia capital.

It is noted that initially the Belarusian transport prosecutor’s office initiated a criminal action on charges relating article 136 of the Criminal Code (violation of international humanitarian rule norms during armed conflicts). Then a deputy prosecutor general redefined the actions of the unknown persons who had committed those crimes as violations of Article 126 of the Criminal Code (international terrorism). The criminal action is submitted for preliminary investigation to the State Security Committee (KGB).