Gunman hijacks passenger plane

KHARTOUM – A domestic Sudanese passenger plane has been hijacked after leaving the capital by an unknown gunman who diverted the plane to Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, says an airline official.

Ahmed Salih, commercial manager of the Air West airline, which operated the Boeing 737 plane, said: “There are 103 people on board. “It was hijacked at 09:00 and will arrive in N’Djamena at 11:00.”Another source at Khartoum Airport said the plane was hijacked while in the air, 30 minutes after taking off.The plane was headed to el-Fasher, the main town in Sudan’s western Darfur region.It was not clear how the hijacker got on board the plane with a weapon, but Sudanese security was often lax, especially on internal flights.In 2004, Eritreans seeking asylum hijacked a plane travelling from Libya to Eritrea and forced it to land in Khartoum Airport.Sudan eventually granted the hijackers political asylum.Nampa-Reuters”It was hijacked at 09:00 and will arrive in N’Djamena at 11:00.”Another source at Khartoum Airport said the plane was hijacked while in the air, 30 minutes after taking off.The plane was headed to el-Fasher, the main town in Sudan’s western Darfur region.It was not clear how the hijacker got on board the plane with a weapon, but Sudanese security was often lax, especially on internal flights.In 2004, Eritreans seeking asylum hijacked a plane travelling from Libya to Eritrea and forced it to land in Khartoum Airport.Sudan eventually granted the hijackers political asylum.Nampa-Reuters