MiG-27 missing from Hasimara (India)
Statesman News Service SILIGURI, May 19. — A MiG-27 of the Indian Air Force went missing today during its flight to Bagdogra near Siliguri from the Hasimara air base in the Dooars.
Though IAF officials at Hasimara and Bagdogra are tight-lipped about the incident, it is learnt that the aircraft might have gone missing within a 50-km radius of Siliguri. The aircraft reportedly took off from the Hasimara air base at about 11.55 a.m. and was supposed to reach Bagdogra at about 12.20 p.m. While unconfirmed sources said a pilot officer, Mr Sinha, was flying the aircraft, IAF officers declined to confirm. Neither did they confirm whether the aircraft was carrying any arsenal or not. “Considering the speed of the aircraft and from the time it got delinked from air traffic control, it is feared that the incident occurred within a 50-km radius of Siliguri,” a source in the IAF said.
Another speculation is also at work. “There is a possibility that owing to inclement weather, the aircraft may have overshot its destination and entered Bangladesh, which is very close to Siliguri,” said another source. Although IAF officials are maintaining silence over the development, it was learnt that all police stations in the region have been alerted about the incident and a search operation is on.
Wing Commander SN Mukherjee said that last call that was received at Air Force base in Hasimara was located somewhere near “Chicken’s neck’’ which is located near Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh border, the Army top brass has already informed Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh governments.
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Seamen Seized in Eritrea (East Africa)
The East African Standard (Nairobi) May 20, 2004 Posted to the web May 20, 2004
Nine Kenyan seafarers are feared to have been kidnapped off the coast of Eritrea. The identity of the hijackers and their motive, however, remains unknown. Also hijacked alongside the Kenyans is a Tanzanian, Ali Mohamed.
They were identified as Mohamed Yusuf (captain), Twalib Mohamed, Athumani Bake, Munguni Zuberi, Mohamed Mzee, Athman Rutu, Mohamed Amani, Badi Maalim and Shekue Kassi. They were aboard an ancient Arab dhow that has reportedly been sold to an Egyptian company called Masterline. The vessel was seized last week.
Maritime experts in Mombasa described the incident as unusual as pirates are not known to operate in Eritrean waters. The Seafarers Assistance Programme (SAP) Kenya co-ordinator, Mr Andrew Mwangura, said in Mombasa that the vessel christened Mv Faza was in Eritrean waters when it was seized .It is feared that the crew has no water or food. Mwangura said the vessel left the port town of Lamu on April 27. "The new buyer in Egypt was intending to convert the vessel into a tourist shuttle," Mwangura said. It had arrived in Eritrea on May 13.
Mwangura said SAP had al alerted the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as well as Kenya's Ministry of Transport and Communications. The harbour master at Kilindini and the merchant shipping superintendent have also been informed. Mwangura has appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry to take up the matter with the Eritrean Embassy in Nairobi. Link to Article