The sole survivor of a Yemeni jet that plunged into deep water while attempting to land on Comoros was reunited with her father in France on Thursday.
French and US aircraft joined the hunt on Wednesday for possible survivors from a plane that crashed off the Comoros archipelago.
An Airbus A310 from Yemen with 153 people on board crashed into choppy seas as it tried to land in bad weather on Comoros on Tuesday, officials said.
Comoros demanded on Thursday that France hand over a rebel leader wanted by the Indian Ocean archipelago for crimes against humanity and troops fired teargas to stop protests against the former colonial power. Paris confirmed late on Wednesday that Mohamed Bacar, the self-declared leader of Anjouan island, had fled to nearby French-run Mayotte.
Comorian rebel leader Mohamed Bacar has fled to the French-run Indian Ocean island of Mayotte from nearby Anjouan, where Comorian troops had been searching for him, French and Comorian officials said on Wednesday. Joint African Union and Comorian forces attacked and seized control of Anjouan island on Tuesday to topple Bacar.
Troops from the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros seized the rebel island of Anjouan on Tuesday with African Union military help, and the government said its self-declared leader had fled dressed as a woman.
The Indian Ocean archipelago nation of Comoros said it had captured the capital and airport of the rebel island of Anjouan on Tuesday in a African Union-backed seaborne assault. ”Our troops have their feet on the ground … The assault has started well and good,” Mohamed Bacar Dossar, a presidential official in charge of defence, said.
One soldier died as local forces ousted national troops to take control of the second largest of the Comoros islands, authorities said on Friday. Clashes began on Wednesday when police loyal to the outgoing president of Anjouan island, Mohamed Bacar, attacked national soldiers who had taken over official buildings.