Al Shabaab militants burn down a UN helicopter in Somalia
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One passenger was killed and five are held hostage.
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Security patrol the streets during fighting between al Shabaab extremists and soldiers in Mogadishu, Somalia, Feb. 21, 2023 (AP)
A UN helicopter that landed on Wednesday on Somalian land controlled by al Shabaab was burned down, Garowe Online, a Somali news portal, reported on Thursday.
The UN helicopter "accidentally" landed in the territory controlled by al Shabaab militants after a technical glitch near the town of Haradhere in the Galguduud administrative region of Somalia, reported Garowe Online on Wednesday. It added that there were at least nine UN workers aboard the helicopter two of whom managed to escape captivity, while others were still detained by militants.
Mohamed Abdi Adnan, the minister of internal security of the Somali state of Galmudug, shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday that the militants killed one passenger and were holding five others hostage. He confirmed that the UN helicopter with soldiers and medical personnel was on an evacuation mission and landed in the Galguduud region after experiencing a mechanical failure.
The Somali military, cited by The Wall Street Journal, shared later that day that the nine people aboard the captured helicopter included two Kenyan medics, a Ugandan soldier, a Somali officer, and an Egyptian doctor who was later killed by the militants.
On Wednesday, the UN mission in Somalia verified that its contracted helicopter experienced an "aviation incident" during an attempt to carry out a medical evacuation.
Al Shabaab is a Somalia-based militant group linked to al-Qaeda terrorist group. It opposes the Somali government and obstructs UN humanitarian missions in the country.
A history of bombing
In one of their most brutal attack, at least 30 Somali soldiers were killed and dozens were wounded after a suicide bomber attacked a military academy in the country's capital Mogadishu on July 22, 2023, Reuters reported, citing army officers.
The terrorist al Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack.
