Remember that Antonov 12 full of “fish” that crashed in al-Riyan, Yemen, flying for an airline that didn’t exist? I was pretty sure it was one of Viktor Bout’s, but I couldn’t be certain. Now, I am. The Aviation Safety Network reports that the aircraft involved was none other than UN-11007, serial no. 9346509 not a stranger to these pages and a veteran of Air Bas, Irbis Air, Air Cess and GST Aerocompany. See this post from May 2004 and also this one from December 2004. It also appears in a photo taken in Sharjah in January 2004 in a lineup between two other exactly identical Antonov 12s all belonging to different and supposedly independent, as well as suspicious, companies.
At the other end of the pipe, AllAfrica gives some background on those “fish” and the flow of arms through Mwanza, Tanzania (where the last Boutjet crashed) to the DRC. As Bob Dylan put it, who will revoke his licence to kill? At this rate, it looks like carelessness is candidate no.1…