Military plane crashes in Yemen's capital

Yemeni tribesmen kidnapped a Swiss citizen working for the Red Cross in southern Abyan province on Monday, a Yemeni security source said.
   
The aid worker was taken from a vehicle in the city of Jar and there had been no demands from the armed tribesmen, the security source said.
   
Kidnappings of Westerners in Yemen are mostly carried out by al Qaeda militants and tribesmen.

This comes as a Yemeni military plane on a training exercise exploded in mid-air over the country's capital, killing the pilot and slamming into a residential neighborhood, according to an army official.     

Fragments of the plane hit buildings on the ground in Sanaa and caused small fires to four houses.       

Three people sustained minor injuries, according to the official.            

The plane was a Russian-made fighter Sukhoi Su-22 and military experts were investigating the cause of the incident, the Yemeni official said.        

He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with military rules that prohibit personnel from speaking to the media without authorisation.Several ambulances were seen rushing to the site and security forces have cordoned off the area in southern Sanaa.          

In February, a military plane flying on a training mission crashed in Sanaa, killing 10 people and destroying two houses.            

Yemen's president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, on his first visit to Moscow in April, told reporters that he discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin his country's need for spare parts to the Russian-made tanks, planes and helicopters used by the military.           

At the time, Hadi said the lifespan of some of these weapons has expired.


AP/REUTERS/LBCI