Ten killed in Yemeni military plane crash

All 10 people on board a Yemeni military plane were killed when it crashed during training over the capital, Sanaa, early today, security officials said.

The Russian-made Antonov aircraft plunged from the sky and crashed into an empty market in al-Hassaba district at the heart of the city, destroying several shops, the officials said.

The market has been abandoned since clashes between the country’s biggest tribal confederation and security forces in the area during last year’s uprising.

The officials said the pilot tried to make an emergency landing after one of the plane’s engines failed, but instead the plane crashed and caught fire.

The victims included the pilots and crew members, the officials said.

Ambulances and fire engines rushed to the crash site.

There was no indication of sabotage in the incident, the officials said.

The Arab world’s most impoverished nation, Yemen has been challenged by a rising al Qaida in the aftermath of the uprising which led to the ousting of the country’s long-time authoritarian ruler, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The United States considers Yemen’s offshoot of al Qaida to be the world’s most dangerous branch of the terror network.

Yemen’s military has been engaged in a wide offensive against al Qaida since last spring, and has managed to uproot the militants from strongholds in the south they seized during the uprising.

Since then, al Qaida has been blamed for a series of assassinations and suicide bombings which targeted top Yemeni military, intelligence and security officials, as well as military camps and security headquarters.