Three Eritrean military officers, who landed at King Abdullah Regional Airport in Jazan on Tuesday, have been granted asylum.

Confirming the report, Yasin Al-Qassim, spokesman of the Jazan Governorate, said: “The three officers had requested political asylum, and their requests have been granted after proper inquiries.”

Earlier, Saudi Air Force jets forced a small single-engine Eritrean plane carrying the three officers to land when it entered the Kingdom’s airspace.

Al-Qassim said the aircraft carrying the officers belonged to Eritrea, not Ethiopia, as reported earlier.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation said the Eritrean plane was given landing permission at 10:38 a.m. after necessary security measures were taken. “The officers on board have been taken into custody for investigation,” it added.

This is not the first time that Eritrean military officers sought asylum in Saudi Arabia.

Last April, an Eritrean female flight lieutenant told Saudi authorities that she did not want to go back to her country.

The officer was a staff member of the Eritrean Air Force and was sent by her government to fly back a military aircraft flown by an Eritrean pilot which landed at King Abdullah Regional Airport. The pilot and a copilot wanted the Kingdom to give them political asylum.

On Dec. 21, 2006, an Eritrean military helicopter carrying two officers landed north of Jazan and the officers sought political asylum in the Kingdom.