This was basically outback flying - into a dirt strip at a town of 2,000 or less, with no navaids, in poor visibility. The strip is probably hard to pick out even in clear weather (check google maps - hint: it is SE of the town).
I doubt politics had anything to do with the crash - unless it was "executive get-there-itis" from the generals and ministers in back pressuring the pilots. (shades of the Polish President in Russia).
I take issue with the descriptions that this is mountainous terrain. It is basically flat desert to the horizon, with sporadic rocky outcroppings. Unfortunately, two of the outcroppings bracket Talodi's dirt strip, so a blind turn at the wrong moment can put one into 600-meter (2,000-ft) terrain a couple of klicks to the west, or a 300-meter hill to the east (heights relative to airstrip elevation of 500 m).