U.N. helicopter crew seized by al-Shabab militant group in Somalia

NAIROBI: The al-Qaeda-linked Islamist insurgent group al-Shabab has seized the crew of a U.N. helicopter that made an emergency landing Wednesday, said two Mogadishu-based sources with international organizations.

Al-Shabab set the helicopter on fire and seized an unknown number of crew members after the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing on its way to the town of Wisil in the central Galguduud region, a Western official told The Washington Post. All three spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

A spokeswoman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia said a statement would be issued shortly. There are no American citizens onboard the helicopter, a Western diplomat said.

The United Nations provides logistical and medical support to the 17,500-strong African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia. An official with the force who spoke on the condition of anonymity said no peacekeeping troops were onboard the helicopter.

Somali government forces, supported by the AU peacekeeping force and clan militias, have clawed back territory from al-Shabab in recent years, but the insurgent group still controls swaths of the country.

Galguduud has been a key battleground, where increasingly strong clan militias opposed to al-Shabab’s harsh interpretation of Islamic law have repeatedly clashed with the insurgency.

Hundreds of U.S. troops are also present in the Horn of Africa nation, where they train the elite Somali special forces and carry out airstrikes and missions.

Somalia has been torn apart by civil war since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, then turned on each other.

The capture of the helicopter and its crew is likely to evoke memories of the capture of a U.S. military crew when their Blackhawk helicopter was shot down over Mogadishu, the capital, in 1993.

Al-Shabab has frequently seized foreign hostages, including medical staff, and kept them in captivity for years. In 2018, they kidnapped a German nurse working with the International Committee of the Red Cross in Mogadishu. She has never been recovered.

Courtesy: The Washington Post