PARIS -- French intelligence officers who were killed when their military aircraft crashed mysteriously and burst into flames in Malta may have been involved in secret talks securing energy deals for France with Libyan militias, intelligence sources said Tuesday.

 The Fairchild aircraft crashed less than two minutes after take-off from the Malta international airport. All five on board were killed, three of which were allegedly French spies on a mission in Libya.

 Official information is limited, but the incident seems to confirm an intense activity in Libya by French forces, particularly surrounding the Libyan general Khalifa Haftar Il Messaggero reports.

 The aircraft was carrying out a reconnaissance activity in the Mediterranean, according to the French Minister of Defence Yves le Drian. Border control claims however, “they were not all in the military,” suggesting instead they were part of the DGSE (General Management for Foreign Security).

 According to sources quoted by Il Messaggero newspaper, some believe the flight was a hired Frontex plane, the European agency appointed to guard EU borders. However, the head of European diplomatic relations, Federica Mogherini, responded quickly to allegations, stating, “The flight was not at all linked to any EU activity.”

 In fact, the Maltese authority claims they were not EU officials but French, sent as customs agents to carry out a reconnaissance mission in the Mediterranean to fight against the trafficking of people and drugs.

 Nevertheless, French customs have confirmed to Il Messaggero, “We can assert that there was not one member of French customs on board the aeroplane.”

 Hence, most assume the flight was hired out for a reconnaissance mission, yet there is -- as of yet -- no known destination nor object of said mission. The only thing that has been verified is that an inside inquest into the cause of the crash is currently being carried out. According to Maltese officials who witnessed the crash, the plane did not immediately explode upon contact with the ground.

 The Cae society, global leader in civil aviation and defence, has assured that the aircraft did not have any technical difficulties and that the two pilots were “extremely experienced.” According to an ex head of French forces, the French Ministry of Defence have been using Cae Aviation for years for reconnaissance missions.

 According to sources close to the military, the aeroplane was heading for the region of Misurata, although Paris strongly denies this allegation. The French decided at the beginning of 2016 to send DGSE agents and COS agents (the Command for Special Operations) to Libya in order to carry out clandestine operations.

 sw