Latest news from the US media says, Iran mistakenly shot down the Ukrainian plane that crashed on Wednesday near Tehran with 176 people on board
The crash came just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two airbases housing US forces in Iraq. US officials say they believe the Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing 737-800 was hit by a missile, CBS says.
Iran ruled out Ukraine’s earlier claims saying it was examining whether a missile strike brought down the aircraft.
CBS News quoting US intelligence said a satellite detected infrared “blips” of two missile launches, followed by another blip of an explosion.
Meanwhile, Newsweek quoted a Pentagon and senior US intelligence officials, as well as an Iraqi intelligence official as saying they believed the Ukrainian plane was hit by a Russian-made Tor missile.
NEW: "CBS News has learned U.S. officials are confident that Iran shot down a Ukrainian jetliner in the hours after the Iranian missile attack on U.S. targets. 176 people were killed, including at least 63 Canadians." https://t.co/BLBUKzzbO6 pic.twitter.com/EHENM9HgqM
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 9, 2020
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said: “Somebody could have made a mistake” with regards to the plane. “I have my suspicions,” he said.
Source: BBC (http://adaderana.lk/news_intensedebate.php?nid=60134)
See also: Iranian embassy in Colombo condemns killing of Gen Soleimani as “State terrorism”
