A Libyan military aircraft crashed Wednesday southwest of Benghazi after the crew refused to follow orders to bomb the city, Libya's Quryna newspaper reported.


The pilot and co-pilot parachuted out of the craft, and the plane crashed in an uninhabited area, the paper said.

The Russian-made Sukhoi-22 aircraft crashed west of the city of Ijdabiya, 160 km (100 miles) southwest of Benghazi, Quryna reported, citing military sources.

When the protests began, Quryna reported regime propaganda. But it later switched, reporting on the protests and casualty figures.

CNN could not immediately confirm reports for many areas in Libya. The Libyan government maintains tight control on communications and has not responded to repeated requests from CNN for access to the country.