Radio Erena: 10 October 2017
According to the information from Radio Erena sources, the two pilots lost their lives on the 25th of September as their fighter jet crushed while on a routine training in the western part of the country – in the vicinities of Balwa of the Ansseba zone.
The victims of the crush, who have only been identified by their first names as Captain Eden and Captain Yonas, were reported to be veteran pilots.
The Air Force is believed to face lack of human resources as many of its pilots seek asylum at a host country when they are sent for training abroad or flee to the neighboring countries of Ethiopia and Sudan. This, according to many sources within the force, is attributed to the authoritarian and incompetent administration in addition to inefficient planes owned by the force.
In a related news, the Eritrean government is reported to purchase spare parts and other machinery for the Air Force illegally in the black market in defiance to the chain of sanctions imposed on it by the United Nations Security Council in 2009 and 2011.
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