18 March 2014; The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has issued the following statement this evening in response to the reports in local media with the missing Malaysian Airline MH 370. The statement, released in Dhivehi stated that:
"The Maldivian National Defense Force (MNDF), in monitoring the areas of the Maldivian territory, is conducting its surveillance efforts with a heightened level of vigilance, in connection to the disappearance of the Malaysian Airline MH 370.
"Further to the surveillances conducted thus far, none of the military radars in the country has detected a trace of the missing plane.Furthermore, no trace of the MH 370 Airline has been found from the data scrutinized thus far from radars stationed at the airports in the Maldives.
"Further, the MNDF is extending all necessary assistance to the efforts by the Maldivian Police Service in its investigation of the [claim in the media reports] and searches that are conducted by international agencies, in connection to this incident."