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Boko Haram Claims It Shot Down Missing Air Force Jet, Provides Video (PHOTOS)
The Boko Haram terror group has released a video showing its fighters shooting down an aircraft believed to be the alpha jet declared missing by the Nigerian Air Force.
In a seven-minute, thirty seconds video, the jet was seen flying low to the ground while the insurgents shot at it.
The jet went missing on Wednesday evening while carrying out a mission against the terrorists in Borno State.
The spokesperson of the Nigerian Air Force, Edward Gabkwet, said on Friday morning that the jet may have crashed.
the terrorists were seen in the video shooting down the aircraft while it came down in flames.
The insurgents were also seen moving towards the debris of the aircraft to remove components of the aircraft and personal effects of the pilots.
See below screenshots from the video of the downing of the aircraft in the video provided by the insurgents.
A ball of explosion covers a Nigerian Air Force Alpha Jet. Screenshot from a propaganda video released April 2021
Boko Haram faction led by Abubakar Shekau released a video on Friday showing the downing of a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Alpha Jet which exploded mid-air.
The seven minutes 30 seconds-long video showed the Alpha Jet flying low over a battlefield arena with multiple Boko Haram fighters engaging in fierce and uncoordinated firefights.
Alpha Jet spiraling to the ground.
The insurgents could be seen firing what was likely a heavy machine gun (anti-aircraft gun) towards the combat aircraft. Then the footage of a fireball explosion could be seen, as the Alpha Jet headed rapidly towards the ground.
Fighters subsequently moved to the area of the crash and began removing components of the aircraft and the pilots’ personal belongings.
Insurgents removing aircraft component
The video also showed a masked fighter armed with a belt-fed machine gun standing on the aircraft debris, and speaking both Arabic and English.
A Boko Haram fighter armed with a machine gun stands on the aircraft debris.
Multiple Boko Haram fighters had gun trucks, motorcycles, AK pattern rifles, belt-fed machines and what appeared to be at least one OTO Melara M56 105mm howitzer improvised into a mobile artillery system and Suicide Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (SBVIEDs) type vehicle.
What appears to be a 105mm artillery system
This incident raises safety concerns on both military and humanitarian aircraft flying over the conflict zone. It is unclear if the crash was caused by the anti-aircraft gun or a weapon system the group did not show in the video.
Fighter with an RPG-backed Boko Haram gun truck.
The Alpha Jet is an advanced trainer and attack aircraft that has served in the NAF inventory for almost 30 years, with the Air Force receiving new deliveries of the attack (A) variants in 2015 and 2018 from the United States of America. The crashed NAF 475 Alpha Jet is from that batch.
NAF Alpha jet armed with rocket pod
The Alpha Jets are usually equipped with Soviet rocket pods and unguided bombs used for targeting ground targets.
