Djibouti: US Military Flights Grounded, Joint Drill Suspended
Local Editor
Djibouti ordered the grounding of US military flights and put on hold an ongoing air operation off its coast, following a string of aviation accidents that took place this week.
In further details, the Djiboutian government sent the US a diplomatic notice demanding that all flying operations be halted after two separate incidents involving US military aircraft occurred on Tuesday, US Naval Forces Central Command announced on Thursday.
Eventually, the training exercise known as Alligator Dagger was halted off the country's coast.
The first mishap occurred at Djibouti International Airport when an AV-8B Harrier jet crashed. The pilot, who ejected, survived the crash. Later on the same day, a Marine CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter suffered "structural damage" while landing at Djibouti's Arta Beach.
The crashes in the East African country came at the same time as several accidents within the United States, including an F-16 crash near Las Vegas on Wednesday, which killed the pilot.
Djibouti, which is home to the only permanent US military base in Africa, hosts about 4,000 US troops.
The recent grounding of US flights in Djibouti would affect the US operations in both of those countries.
Citing US officials, CNN wrote that the US military and the State Department were in talks with the government of Djibouti to get approval for flights on a case-by-case basis.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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