A UPDF helicopter under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) carrying 8 people on board including the crew has crashed at the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia.
According to the BBC, the head of the Somali Civil Aviation Authority, Ahmed Maalim, investigations are under way to establish the cause of the helicopter crash that had come down in the airport’s military section after flying in from the Balidogle airbase in the Lower Shabelle region.
The state-run SONNA news outlet reported that a fire broke out after the helicopter crashed at the Aden Adde International Airport, but it had been quickly contained by the emergency services. Video footage showed plumes of smoke rising from the airport.
“We heard the blast and saw smoke and flames over a helicopter. The smoke entirely covered the helicopter,” Farah Abdulle, one of the airport staff, told Reuters news agency.
UPDF soldiers are part of the AUSSOM has more than 11,000 personnel in Somalia to help the country’s military counter Islamist group al Shabaab.
The al Qaeda affiliate has been fighting for nearly two decades to topple Somalia’s internationally-recognised government and establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of sharia law.
