Nigeria probes crash of military aircraft with two fatalities

Nigeria’s air force has said it has ordered an inquiry after a military training aircraft crashed in the northwestern state of Kaduna, claiming two lives.

At least four Nigerian military aircraft have been involved in deadly crashes since last year, including one that killed the nation’s army chief and 10 other soldiers on board.

A Super Mushshak trainer went down on a military base on Tuesday evening, killing the two pilots on board, the air force said in a statement on Wednesday.

It said air force chief Oladayo Amao had set up an investigation board “to determine the immediate and remote causes of the crash”.

Soldiers are deployed in northwest and central Nigeria, where they are battling heavily armed criminal gangs known locally as bandits.

Kaduna, in particular, has been the target of the attacks by the armed gangs in recent times.

Last month, a Nigerian passenger train was attacked with explosives, leaving eight dead and dozens kidnapped.

The attack on the train between the capital Abuja and Kaduna city was a major escalation in the security challenges racking the 215 million people of Africa’s most populous nation.

Among other challenges, Nigerian troops are also battling a 13-year-old war against Boko Haram in the northeast and a separatist agitation in the southeast.