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Ethiopia admitted on Saturday that it was behind the shooting down of a Kenyan private jet in Somalia earlier this week, resulting in the deaths of the six people on board.
The plane was shot down on Monday by Ethiopian troops protecting a camp in the city of Bardale, in southwest Somalia, the Ethiopian army said in a statement to the African Union (AU).
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The plane was carrying humanitarian and medical supplies to help the country combat the spread of the coronavirus when it landed in Bardale, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
Ethiopian soldiers mistakenly believed the plane was on a “possible suicide mission” because they had not been informed of the “unusual flight” and the plane was flying low, according to the statement.
“Due to lack of communication and awareness, the plane was shot down,” the army said. “The incident … will require a mutual collaborative investigation team from Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya to better understand the truth.”
Kenya expressed shock at the incident earlier this week, saying the plane’s mission had been to help Somalia cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Soldiers from Ethiopia and Kenya are among those deployed to Somalia as part of an AU peacekeeping mission to fight the al-Shabab armed group.
The plane’s shooting down comes amid tensions between Kenya and Somalia.
Last month, Kenya accused Somali troops of an “unwarranted attack” across its border near Mandera, an advanced northern city, describing the incident as provocative.
Somalia has long accused its older neighbor of meddling in its internal affairs, something Kenya has denied.
