リトアニアで貨物機墜落、１人死亡　ドイツは外国の関与示唆

【ビリニュスＡＦＰ＝時事】リトアニアの首都ビリニュスの空港付近で２５日、ドイツ物流大手ＤＨＬの貨物機が墜落し、スペイン人の乗員１人が死亡した。ドイツ当局は外国が関与した可能性を示唆している。（写真は、リトアニアのビリニュス国際空港付近で貨物機が墜落した現場）
　警察とＤＨＬによると、独ライプチヒからビリニュスへ向かっていた貨物機は着陸直前、空港から約１キロの地点で墜落。数百メートルを滑走しながら複数の建物に衝突した。
　墜落現場の映像では、緊急当局によって封鎖された住宅地に機体の残骸と燃える貨物が散乱する様子が確認された。
　リトアニアのラウリナス・カスチュナス国防相は記者会見で「破壊工作やテロ行為を示唆する兆候や証拠はこれまでのところない」と語った。原因特定には「約１週間かかる」と付け加えた。
　ダリウス・ヤウニシュキス国家保安局長も、バルト三国の一角であるリトアニアは「一段と攻撃性を増すロシア」に対峙（たいじ）しており、「テロの可能性を排除できない」としながら、「現時点では何も断定したり非難したりすることはできない」と述べた。
　イングリダ・シモニテ首相も、「結論を急がないように」とＳＮＳで呼び掛けた。
　一方、ドイツのアナレーナ・ベーアボック外相は「これが事故だったのか、それとも新たなハイブリッド攻撃だったのか、われわれは真剣に問わなければならない」と語った。
　「ハイブリッド攻撃」という用語は、インフラ破壊工作やサイバー攻撃など、従来の軍事戦術を用いない攻撃を指す際に使われることが多い。
　２０２２年のロシアによるウクライナ侵攻開始以降、欧州諸国はロシアの関与が疑われる行動について、この用語を頻繁に使用している。
　リトアニア当局は今月、西側諸国へ向かう航空機で発火装置を発送した事件の刑事捜査の一環として、容疑者を逮捕している。
　ポーランドとリトアニアのメディアによると、発火性物質が仕込まれた電動マッサージ器などが７月にリトアニアから英国に送られ、ポーランドの首都ワルシャワ郊外で起きたトラック火災の原因となった可能性が取り沙汰されている。
　また英警察の反テロ部局は先月、今年初めに小包が中継所で炎上した事件について捜査していると発表した。先に類似する事件が発生したドイツは、ロシアを非難している。
　リトアニアのケストゥティス・バドリス大統領補佐官（国家安全保障問題担当）は、こうした一連の事件についてロシアを非難。今月、リトアニアのニュース専門ラジオ局に対し、「こうした作戦の出所がどこかは分かっている。それはロシア軍の情報機関だ」「何も対策を取らなければ、新たな行動にエスカレートするだけだ」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/11/26-17:21）

A DHL cargo plane crashed Monday near the Lithuanian capital's airport, killing one crew member, with Germany raising the possibility of outside involvement in the disaster.
While authorities stopped short of linking the tragedy to a recent series of sabotage cases, Lithuanian officials have in past weeks probed alleged acts of incendiary devices being planted on cargo planes.
The plane, which was coming from the German city of Leipzig, crashed about one kilometre (0.6 miles) from Vilnius airport having hit several buildings as it skidded several hundred metres, according to the police and the DHL logistics company.
Images from the crash site showed debris from the plane and packages on fire scattered across a residential area cordoned off by the emergency services.
So far, there are no signs or evidence suggesting this was sabotage or a terrorist act, Lithuania's Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told reporters, adding the probe to establish the cause could take about a week.
State Security Department chief Darius Jauniskis said that while the Baltic country had seen an increasingly aggressive Russia and could not rule out the case of terrorism... we cannot make any attributions or point fingers yet.
- 'Hybrid incident' -
Echoing that caution, Lithuania's Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte urged people in a social media post to refrain from jumping to conclusions during the investigation.
But German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said we must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident or whether it was another hybrid incident.
The term hybrid is commonly used to describe attacks that do not use conventional military tactics, such as sabotaging infrastructure or launching cyberattacks.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European countries have often used the term to describe actions against them that they believe originate from Moscow.
Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said later in Berlin there were no findings as yet that indicated there had been an explosive charge on the aircraft that could have caused the crash.
According to police, the plane skidded several hundred metres, hitting a residential building which caught fire, along with smaller buildings and a car.
Firefighters said one of the four crew died in the crash.
Police said the deceased person was Spanish, and that the three other crew members were Spanish, German and Lithuanian nationals. One was critically injured.
The emergency services said the house hit by the plane was evacuated and its 12 residents moved to safety.
We were woken by an explosion. Through the window, we saw the wave of explosions and a cloud of fire. Like fireworks, Stanislovas Jakimavicius, who lives near the crash site, told AFP.
- 'Emergency landing' -
German logistics company DHL said the aircraft was operated by its partner SwiftAir and had been attempting an emergency landing early in the morning.
A German transport ministry official said the country's Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation will support the investigation on site.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.
Earlier this month Lithuania carried out arrests as part of a criminal probe into sending incendiary devices on Western-bound planes.
According to Polish and Lithuanian media, the devices, including electric massagers implanted with a flammable substance, were sent from Lithuania to Britain in July and could be behind a lorry fire outside Warsaw.
UK anti-terrorism police last month said they were investigating how a parcel burst into flames at a depot earlier this year, after a similar case in Germany blamed on Russia.
The Lithuanian president's chief security adviser blamed Moscow for the incidents.
We know who the source of these operations is. It is Russian military intelligence, Kestutis Budrys told Ziniu radio earlier this month.
We cannot let this go unanswered as it will only escalate into the new kinds of actions, Budrys added.
Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members bordering Russia, are staunch allies of Ukraine, frequently warning about Russian-inspired sabotage on EU soil.