Air Algérie AH5017 crash: “Tawhid and Djihad” battalion stationed near the crash site
Among the victims of the Spanish aircraft that was leased by Air Algerie, 33 soldiers of the French army who were in Mali and Africa, and among these there are three senior officers in the French Intelligence Service, Echorouk sources said.
Lebanese Hezbollah leader who operates as a businessman who traveled from and to Senegal and Burkina Faso, was also among the victims of the crash.
Lebanese Embassy in Algiers requested information on the situation of Lebanese nationals and it was found that the man in question is among the victims.
French authorities at the highest level said the cause of the crash is due to climatic factors, and Interior Minister, Bernard Kaznov, told Radio “RTL” that the plane that crashed in Mali near the border with Burkina Faso, Thursday, was completely destroyed at the moment of its crash.
Kaznov added on Friday morning, that weather is the “most real hypothesis” to explain the causes of the crash of Air Algérie plane, which was carrying 116 people over Mali.
“We believe that the plane crashed for reasons related to weather, although we can not rule out any theory for the present time.”
French Transport Minister, Frederick Cuvillier, said that the smell of jet fuel, which was very strong at the crash site and the scattering of debris in a relatively small area, indicates that the cause of the crash is linked to weather conditions or technical problem, or both.
French Defense Ministry launched in-depth investigation into the incident, that is overseen by the French military personnel after finding one of the black boxes of the plane, which facilitates the task of investigators to determine the cause of the fall.
Echorouk sources asserted that the region in which the plane crashed is not far from the location of “Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa” battalion, which holds a powerful arsenal of missiles that were smuggled from Libya.
Algerian security expert confirmed the possibility of a criminal incident behind this crash, especially those related to being shipped with explosives at the airport in Burkina Faso and not due to an anti-missile attack in northern Mali.