The Armed Forces denied on Sunday morning that a military aircraft was brought down by smugglers in southwest Egypt.
Armed Forces spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Ali said that a military helicopter was flying on a regular patrol of southern border areas Saturday evening when a sudden malfunction led to an “emergency landing.”
Ali posted on his official Facebook page, “There are no losses, either in lives or to the plane itself.”
Security sources in New Valley Governorate had said earlier that smugglers had shot down an Egyptian military plane while it was chasing them in the East Owaynat area.
Twenty ambulances rushed to the scene to save crew members, while the Armed Forces sent another military aircraft to the scene.
Residents in the area said they heard a loud explosion at the time of the incident.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
