AZERBAIJANI FIGHTER JET CRASHES, TWO DEAD: GOVT SOURCE
Agence France Presse — English
January 29, 2008 Tuesday 2:45 PM GMT
An Azerbaijani MiG-29 fighter jet crashed during a training exercise
near the capital Baku on Tuesday, killing both crew members, a senior
government source told AFP.
The reason for the crash was not known, said the official, who asked
not to be identified.
A spokesman for the defence ministry refused to comment.
Azerbaijani news agencies reported that the plane had crashed into
the Caspian Sea near a military base close to the city of Sumgayit,
about 30 kilometres (17 miles) from Baku.
ANS television reported that the plane was one of several refurbished
MiG-29s that Azerbaijan purchased last year from Ukraine as part of
its efforts to modernize its Soviet-era air force.
Flush with revenues from oil exports, Azerbaijan has boosted defence
spending over the last four years to one billion dollars (677 million
euros) in 2007.
Despite a ceasefire, Azerbaijan remains officially at war with
neighbouring Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh and
seven other Azerbaijani provinces seized by Armenia during a conflict
in the early 1990s.