| Submit your comments on this article |
| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Missiles Found 50km From Airport |
| 2002-12-09 |
| The two missiles fired at the Israeli passenger jet as it took off from Mombasa have been recovered more than 50 kilometres away in Kilifi. 50 Kilometers? That sounds too far away for a shoulder fired SAM, someone has got their distances wrong. The casing of one of the shoulder-launched weapons was found yesterday at Chiseri Village, while the other missile, which failed to explode, was found intact two kilometres away at Ngindo Village. It was partly buried in soil in the middle of a maize and cassava plantation. Didn't go off, huh? Old missles that have not been maintained tend to do that. At Chiseri, villagers said they saw a burning flame in the sky on the day of the attack - Thursday last week - before something landed with a thud at a place they could not immediately identify.In Ngindo, a villager said the owner of the farm in which the unexploded missile was found was going about his daily routine when he came across the missile. It was buried more than two feet in the ground, although its warhead was still visible. Bomb experts will remove the missiles today, said deputy police commissioner William Langat who is leading the investigation. The find could provide more vital clues in the hunt for the terrorists who fired at the charter jet - and their accomplices who organised the suicide bombing of the Paradise Hotel at Kikambala minutes later which left 16 people dead. Meanwhile, police have arrested a scrap metal dealer, a business associate of two brothers held on Wednesday in connection with the Mombasa missile attack. Police have also found two witnesses who described two key suspects in the attacks. Deputy Commissioner Langat said police now had the description of a man seen driving the Mitsubishi Pajero which was spotted speeding away after the missile attack. "We also have a description of a man who was spotted at Paradise Hotel photographing the hotel three months before the terrorist attacks," he said. Mr Langat also confirmed that one of three brothers arrested in connection with the attacks had been released, but that the other two were still being questioned. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 That was my thought, but the mapquest info sort of blew that theory. I think theres some mistranslation going on in this story. My guess was the story was posted from kilifi, and that the missles wee found a short distance from the airport. 5 kilomteres seems like a right number to me. update: an overseas pilot friend tell me that the IFR air routes for Mombasa dont go anywhere near Kilifi, so my second thought that they were close to a VFR beacon at kilifi as their launch point was also grossly incorrect. he also states "Kilifi is 25 miles outbound, youd be up pretty high anyway, so the sa-7 would again be pretty useless. " |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2002-12-09 16:21:52 |
| #2 The story I saw said 4 miles. Maybe they meant 5.0 km.? |
| Posted by: Chuck 2002-12-09 15:37:41 |
| #1 A quick check of mapquest shows the kilifi is in fact north of mombasa by about 50 Kilometers. Theres no way a shoulder launched missle would have enough thrust to go 50 kilomteres. I believe the maximum range of these guys is about 5 miles. Heres the FAS backgrounder on the SA-7 GRAIL |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2002-12-09 13:40:11 |