Officials in Nigeria have confirmed that a Nigerian jet fighter taking part in military operations against militants in Mali has crashed in western Niger, killing two crew of the jet.

The incident marked the first casualties in Mali for Nigerian troops, which form the largest contingent in the West African regional force participating in the effort to drive militants from the country’s desert north.

The spokesman for the Nigerian Air Force Air Commodore Yusuf Anas told reporters that the plane was an Alpha jet stationed in Niger as part of a Nigerian squadron supporting the mission in Mali.

“An investigation is going on to find out what happened. They were on a normal routine flight about 60 km west of Niamey when something happened,” Anas told reporters.

Niger officials confirmed the crash saying the jet crashed near Dargol in the Tillabery region which borders with Mali.

“The plane was not shot at. It was not in enemy territory so for now we are looking at maybe a mechanical problem,” an anonymous security official from Niger told local reporters in Niger.

Niger last month abandoned their mission combat in Mali to pursue militants in the northern desert cities of Mali.

President Idriss Deby then explained that his troops lack the capabilities and skills to fight guerrilla warfare against the militants.

Two Malian soldiers were killed over the weekend in suicide attack in a village near the Malian northern town of Gao.

There was no official statement from the Nigerian government about the crash and it is unclear whether the country will still be in combat mission in Mali.

When Nigerian troops were leaving the country for Mali, there were mix reaction to the mission by the general public as some were of the opinion that Nigeria has gotten its own problem of Boko Haram insurgency and the troops should stay back to take care of internal security.

Local reporters in Nigeria say some members of the general public are not happy with the turn of events especially with this latest crash.

France who led the campaign to oust militants from Malian cities in January has begun to withdraw its forces from Mali.

France has however succeeded in pushing the United Nations Security Council to create over 12,000 troops to be deployed to Mali in July this year.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

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