Ethiopian Military Admits Downing Aid Plane in Somalia Over Suicide Attack Fears

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A plane carrying relief aid was downed in Somalia by Ethiopian troops who confused it with a militant aircraft on a suicide mission, media said Saturday.

Ethiopia's Sector III Force Commander of the African Union mission, battling al-Shabaab militants, said in a letter to the regional bloc that the plane flew suspiciously and did not respond to radio calls, according to The Standard, a Kenyan daily.

"The troops concluded that the aircraft... was trying to find a target to make suicide in the base camp due to movement now and then over the FOB", the letter read.

#SOMALIA

Ethiopia admit to shooting down Kenya's cargo plane on Monday.

AU's Sector 3 Force Commander's report say;

“The troops suspected that the aircraft was a suicide attacker and seeking a target to attack..the African Express Type E-120 was shot down by our force.” pic.twitter.com/j68Mbs0ClE

— Kennedy Wandera (@VOA_Wandera) May 9, 2020

​The commander defended the troops' actions, saying planes were to approach the base from the east, while the Kenyan plane flew in from the west. It flew over the airstrip close to the ground and even "tried to land on ZU 23 crew".

The Kenyan plane with a crew of five crashed on Monday after it was hit by a missile near the Ethiopian Forward Operating Base in the town of Berdale in the southern Bay region.