A military plane has crashed in southern Sudan, killing three officers and a soldier.

An army statement said the aircraft was on a training mission and hit a tree while coming in to land near the main southern city of Juba.

It did not say if there were any survivors.

Several Sudanese army planes have crashed in recent years.

The deputy defence minister was one of 15 people killed in a crash last April.

The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army said it had shot down another military plane which crashed three months later in the oil-rich Unity state, killing three officers.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service