A helicopter belonging to the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), has crashed at the international airport in Mogadishu, the Somalian capital.
The crash happened Wednesday morning, after the aircraft departed
Balidoogle airfield where US and Somali special forces are based, some 90
kilometres from Mogadishu.
State-run Somali National News Agency (SONNA) said the
AUSSOM helicopter had eight personnel aboard.
It is unclear if there are casualties but reports noted that
a fire erupted after the chopper crashed, leading to a delay of several
flights.
SONNA added that the fire has been contained and authorities
are assessing the situation.
“Civil Aviation says flight operations remain normal,” the
news agency added.
The AUSSOM or the AU has yet to publicly react to the
incident.
The AUSSOM is a successor mission to the African Union
Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and came into effect on January 1.
It is aimed at assisting the Somalian national army in
combating Al-Shabaab, the Islamist militant group, and affiliates linked to
ISIL/Daesh.
One of its mandates is to transfer full security
responsibilities to Somali security forces by December 2029.
AUSSOM maintains over 11,000 personnel in Somalia to achieve
this goal.
The insurgents have waged a nearly 20-year violent campaign
to overthrow the Somalian government and impose their version of strict Islamic
law.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com