Intruding US aircraft was carrying medicines and not weapons, discloses IAF

New Delhi June 20 (ANI): After a thorough interrogation and search Indian authorities confirmed that the military cargo aircraft, which has landed in Mumbai air port yesterday was carrying medicines to the US troops operating in Afghanistan and no weapons or ammunition were on board said IAF spokesperson Wg Cdr Tarun Kumar Singha.

Speaking to ANI Wg Cdr Singha said the aircraft was hired by the US military, from a Russian agency. All the 18 persons including the crewmembers who were in the aircraft were civilians and belonged to the Russian agency.

The hired military cargo aircraft violated the Indian air space near Gujarat yesterday and was forced to land at Mumbai's Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

The aircraft was travelling from Diego Garcia island, a military base of the US near Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, to Kandahar in Afghanistan.

Wg Cdr Singha said that according to norms any hired civilian aircrafts for the military purposes has to get an AOR clearance form the IAF on this case the Russian agency did not obtain the clearance, the Mumbai ATR instructed the captain to land the aircraft.

He denied the report of IAF planes escorting the intruded aircraft and said the pilot followed the instruction given by the ATR, so the question of escort does not arise.

The Indian authorities have given the clearance to the aircraft to fly. Shreeraj Gudi (ANI)