{"id":7798,"date":"2016-10-29T04:01:35","date_gmt":"2016-10-29T04:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/?p=7798"},"modified":"2016-10-29T04:01:35","modified_gmt":"2016-10-29T04:01:35","slug":"2-eritrean-pilots-defect-ethiopia-jets-group-says-october-27-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2016\/10\/29\/2-eritrean-pilots-defect-ethiopia-jets-group-says-october-27-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Eritrean Pilots Defect to Ethiopia With Jets, Group Says October 27, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nazret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/87222636_eritrea_president_g.jpg\" width=\"347\" height=\"195\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia \u2014 Two Eritrean pilots have defected with their fighter jets to neighboring Ethiopia, an Eritrean opposition group confirmed Thursday, in a dramatic exit from one of the world\u2019s most closed-off states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe two pilots flew their small-sized fighter jets to Mekelle on Wednesday morning,\u201d Nasredin Ahmed Ali, spokesman for the Ethiopia-based Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-g-rec td-g-rec-id-content_inlineright \"><\/div>\n<p>The spokesman identified the pilots as Afeworki Fisehaye and Mebrahtu Tesfamariam and described them as being very experienced with Eritrea\u2019s air force. He said Ethiopian fighter jets accompanied them upon their entry into the country\u2019s air space.<\/p>\n<p>One witness, Abiy Chelkeba, a lecturer at Mekelle University, said Ethiopian jets were flying very low and conducting unusual turns in the northern city Wednesday morning. Local media also reported the defection.<\/p>\n<p>An Eritrean official based in Ethiopia\u2019s capital, Addis Ababa, said he was not aware of the defections. Ethiopia\u2019s government spokesman, Getachew Reda, declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>This is the first time Eritrean pilots have defected to Ethiopia with their jets, but there have been reports of the East African country\u2019s pilots defecting to Saudi Arabia since 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Eritreans are one of the largest groups trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, with the U.N. saying more than 47,000 applied for asylum there in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Eritrea\u2019s government has been under criticism for what a U.N. commission of inquiry has said are numerous abuses including enslavement, rape and torture. President Isaias Afwerki, in power since 1991, is described by rights groups as increasingly repressive in the country of about 6 million.<\/p>\n<p>Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war between 1998 and 2000 that killed tens of thousands of people. Border skirmishes occur often, and the two countries have not had diplomatic ties since 1998.<\/p>\n<p>Pilots have used their fighter jets to make high-profile defections in other parts of the world, notably during the Cold War. One North Korean pilot, No Kum Sok, left during a training mission in 1953 and landed at a U.S. military base in South Korea.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>By <span class=\"byline-author\" data-byline-name=\"THE ASSOCIATED PRESS\">THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia \u2014 Two Eritrean pilots have defected with their fighter jets to neighboring Ethiopia, an Eritrean opposition group confirmed Thursday, in a dramatic exit from one of the world\u2019s most closed-off states. \u201cThe two pilots flew their small-sized fighter jets to Mekelle on Wednesday morning,\u201d Nasredin Ahmed Ali, spokesman for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ml_titleColor":"#000000","_ml_titleFont":"Roboto","_ml_titleFontSize":1.1359999999999998987476601541857235133647918701171875,"_ml_titleFontWeight":"400","_ml_titleLineHeight":1.3000000000000000444089209850062616169452667236328125,"_ml_metaColor":"#708090","_ml_metaFont":"Montserrat","_ml_metaFontSize":0.67849999999999999200639422269887290894985198974609375,"_ml_metaFontWeight":"400","_ml_metaLineHeight":0.92000000000000003996802888650563545525074005126953125,"_ml_bodyColor":"#a9a9a9","_ml_bodyFont":"Open Sans","_ml_bodyFontSize":0.84999999999999997779553950749686919152736663818359375,"_ml_bodyFontWeight":"400","_ml_bodyLineHeight":1.1999999999999999555910790149937383830547332763671875,"_ml_wooPriceColor":"#666","_ml_wooPriceFont":"Open Sans","_ml_wooPriceFontSize":0.90000000000000002220446049250313080847263336181640625,"_ml_wooPriceFontWeight":"400","_ml_wooPriceLineHeight":1.270000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingColor":"#000","_ml_headingFont":"Merriweather","_ml_headingFontSize":2.020000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingFontWeight":"700","_ml_headingLineHeight":1.4699999999999999733546474089962430298328399658203125,"_mlglobal_userfontcolors":{"headingColorUser":[],"titleColorUser":[],"metaColorUser":[],"bodyColorUser":[],"wooPriceColorUser":[]},"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>2 Eritrean Pilots Defect to Ethiopia With Jets, Group Says October 27, 2016 - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2 Eritrean Pilots Defect to Ethiopia With Jets, Group Says October 27, 2016 - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; &nbsp; ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia \u2014 Two Eritrean pilots have defected with their fighter jets to neighboring Ethiopia, an Eritrean opposition group confirmed Thursday, in a dramatic exit from one of the world\u2019s most closed-off states. \u201cThe two pilots flew their small-sized fighter jets to Mekelle on Wednesday morning,\u201d Nasredin Ahmed Ali, spokesman for the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2016\/10\/29\/2-eritrean-pilots-defect-ethiopia-jets-group-says-october-27-2016\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNITED ERITREA MEDIA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-29T04:01:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nazret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/87222636_eritrea_president_g.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Administrator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Administrator\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2016\/10\/29\/2-eritrean-pilots-defect-ethiopia-jets-group-says-october-27-2016\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2016\/10\/29\/2-eritrean-pilots-defect-ethiopia-jets-group-says-october-27-2016\/\",\"name\":\"2 Eritrean Pilots Defect to Ethiopia With Jets, Group Says October 27, 2016 - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-29T04:01:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-29T04:01:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#\/schema\/person\/984095fb4b8562530c05496fc8b26adf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2016\/10\/29\/2-eritrean-pilots-defect-ethiopia-jets-group-says-october-27-2016\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2016\/10\/29\/2-eritrean-pilots-defect-ethiopia-jets-group-says-october-27-2016\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2016\/10\/29\/2-eritrean-pilots-defect-ethiopia-jets-group-says-october-27-2016\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2 Eritrean Pilots Defect to Ethiopia With Jets, Group Says October 27, 2016\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/\",\"name\":\"UNITED ERITREA MEDIA\",\"description\":\"\u0648\u0633\u0627\u0626\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0645 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u0631\u064a\u062a\u0631\u064a \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0648\u062d\u062f\u0629\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#\/schema\/person\/984095fb4b8562530c05496fc8b26adf\",\"name\":\"Administrator\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/913b0e245545154e0835947100e60b86?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/913b0e245545154e0835947100e60b86?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Administrator\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/author\/administrator\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2 Eritrean Pilots Defect to Ethiopia With Jets, Group Says October 27, 2016 - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2 Eritrean Pilots Defect to Ethiopia With Jets, Group Says October 27, 2016 - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA","og_description":"&nbsp; 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