Ugandan fighter plane crashes in Congo
December 25 2008, 6:44:00
Uganda said today one of its fighter aircraft had crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where regional forces are fighting a Ugandan rebel group.
Ugandan, Congolese and south Sudanese troops are hunting Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in eastern Congo to try to end one of Africa's longest-running conflicts. "It's true we have lost a fighter aircraft in a test flight, one-and-a-half kilometres from Isiro airport," said Ugandan Army spokesperson Paddy Ankunda.
"The pilot, Bosco Opiyo, failed to recover the plane from diving and plunged into the ground, dying instantly, and the craft also caught fire. The accident is purely a technical accident."
The fugitive leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, is said to have escaped the attacks by the armies hunting him. Thousands of people have been killed and about 2 million displaced by rebel group, infamous for mutilating its victims and kidnapping women and children.
Source: SABC-Reuters
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