KATHMANDU, SEP 20 -

A special aircraft of the United States Air Force, C-17, landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Thursday and returned after some hours of stopover.

The plane landed at 2:30pm and left the airport at around 5:10pm. The US side had informed the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence as well as the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal three days ago and sought permit for the flight, sources said. Nepal Army spokesperson Jagadish Pokhrel confirmed the arrival of the aircraft from New Delhi but could not give the details about the purpose. But officials at the Foreign Ministry and the US Embassy in Kathmandu were not immediately available for comments.

Informed sources said that after the delivery of a military-related pouch in New Delhi for the US Embassy in Kathmandu, it was later routed to Kathmandu to deliver the supplies.

“As far as we know, the aircraft brought some paraphernalia for the US embassy in Kathmandu,” said NA spokesperson Pokhrel.

An airport source also confirmed that the plane was here to drop off the supplies for the embassy. “The aircraft brought supplies for several embassies based in Asia,” the TIA source said.

A small team of NA officials and personnel had provided security to the plane after landing. Some stuffs were taken from the plane and later loaded onto a pick-up van and in a car and released from the airport premises. NA officials had provided security during the process, said airport officials. There were nine people including the crew