AU helicopter crashes in Somali capital, state-run media reports
The helicopter from the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) was carrying eight personnel when it crashed during landing, SONNA said on its X account, adding that the fire had been contained.
It was not immediately clear whether there were casualties. An AUSSOM spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.
"We heard the blast and saw smoke and flames over a helicopter," Farah Abdulle, who works at the airport, told Reuters. "The smoke entirely covered the helicopter."
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.
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France's top court annuls arrest warrant against Syria's Assad
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IOL News
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RSF intensify blow to army in Kordofan by downing drone and killing three senior commanders
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TimesLIVE
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- TimesLIVE
Blast kills three Kenyan soldiers on road near Somali border
A blast has killed three Kenyan soldiers patrolling a road in the east of the country near the Somali border, the military said. The al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab said on its website at least two Kenyan soldiers were killed and others wounded in a blast that targeted a convoy in a similar area on Tuesday, but it did not directly claim responsibility. The patrol hit an improvised explosive device (IED) on Tuesday morning on the road between Sankuri and Kiunga, a coastal town 12km from the Somali border, the army said. "Regrettably, three gallant soldiers succumbed to their injuries. These soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice," the Kenya Defence Forces said in a statement released late on Tuesday. Al Shabaab controls large swathes of southern and central Somalia and frequently makes cross-border attacks on military and civilian targets, which security analysts say are aimed at pressuring Kenya into withdrawing its troops from peacekeeping missions in Somalia.
