Muslim World News On-line
Date of Publication: May 2000
INDONESIAN MUSLIMS FOR GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE
Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim.
Assalamu'alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarokaatuh
RUSSIANS CONFIRM DISAPPEARANCE OF WARPLANE OVER CHECHNYA
MOSCOW, May 8 (AFP)-Russian federal forces confirmed Monday that a Su-24
jet had disappeared over Chechnya Sunday afternoon. "The jet was on a
reconnaissance mission in very bad weather conditions and for some reason
disappeared off our radar screens. We have lost all contact with the
plane," press center officials said.
Russian forces are searching for the plane and the pilot. They have not
ruled out that Chechen fighters may have shot down the plane, the report
said. On Sunday, Chechen spokesperson Movladi Udugov said that the fighters
had downed two Russian jets over the weekend.
Udugov said an anti-aircraft missile shot down one Su-24 ground-attack jet
in the southeastern Vedeno district only minutes after Vladimir Putin was
sworn in as president in Moscow. The another plane was downed near the
village of Nozhai-Yurt near the border with the Russian republic of
Dagestan on Saturday.
Udugov also claimed that 12 Russian soldiers had been killed in a train
ambush. Senior Russian officers had refuted the claims, saying they had no
knowledge of the incidents. Russia had announced that it had reinforced
security in Chechnya to prevent incidents that could mar Putin*s
inauguration and the 55th Victory Day celebrations.
Wassalamu'alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarokaatuh
(DI-10/05/00)
Source : Islam On-line
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