Two Killed As Military Plane Crashes In Algeria

An Algerian fighter jet has crashed during an overnight training exercise, killing its two crew members, the defence ministry said on Thursday, reports the AFP.

The Russian-made Sukhoi SU-24 plane went down in an uninhabited farming area in the province of Tiaret, around 250 kilometres (155 miles) southwest of Algiers, the ministry said in a statement.

The pilot and co-pilot were killed during the “night-time training flight”, it said, adding that it was investigating the causes of the accident.

READ: Algeria has bought half of the Russian weapons sold in Africa

It was the latest in a string of aviation disasters over recent years that have claimed hundreds of lives in the North African country.

In April an Ilyushin IL-76 transport plane slammed into a field near an airbase south of Algiers, killing 257 people — Algeria’s deadliest such incident in 20 years.

It was mostly carrying army personnel and their family members on their way back to their barracks in the country’s far south.

Several previous accidents were due to poor maintenance of the military fleet, Algerian media has reported.