Monday, August 13, 2012

Standardmedia


  Ugandan choppers crash in Kenya

Ugandan choppers crash in Kenya

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Updated 54 mins ago
By Cyrus Ombati
Two of the missing Ugandan attack helicopters which went off the radar on Sunday as they flew to Somalia to shore up the final attack on the port city of Kismayu have been sighted after crash.
Kenya's Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said in brief statement: "one has been sighted on Mt Kenya and another in Meru area." We are still trying to find out finer details of the crash and the search and rescue missions are on-going."
The choppers three are said to have gone missing within Kenyan airspace as they flew to Somalia, a source said.
"One of the pilots has communicated but the terrain is worrying and difficult to manouvre in bad weather even after we dispatched rescue missions, to the scene. One of the choppers landed in a military base in North Eastern Kenya," military spokesman Bogita Ongeri confirmed to The Standard digital.
" It is a matter that involves a neighbouring country. We have scanty information but the choopers were headed to to the African Union mission in Somalia. We will inform the public accordingly once details become clearer."
A search for the three MI-24 Russian made aircrafts, which disappeared was concentrated near Mt Kenya while a fourth one landed in Garissa, initial reports inidicated.
The Kenya Defence Forces officials confirmed the incident but referred journalists to the police saying the incident was a homeland matter.
“It's true an incident happened on the choppers but talk to the police or Ugandans themselves. The matter is more of a homeland,” said a senior military officer who asked not to be named.
 Kiraithe asked for more time to get detailed information on the incidents before making a full statement on the circumstances.
It is not yet clear on what happened to the helicopters. The choppers were apparently headed for Baidoa in Somalia.
The Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) said a team of helicopters had left a base in the Ugandan city of Entebbe but that only one had landed in the Kenyan town of Wajir, where they were scheduled to refuel before flying on to Somalia.
UPDF did not say how many helicopters were missing or how many people were on board.
"The search is going on, we don't know what exactly happened but we are investigating it and we will let you know when I get adequate information," UPDF spokesman Felix Kulayigye told Reuters.
This comes at a time when the long-planned assault on Somalia’s southern port town of Kismayu by the Kenya Defence Forces and their Amisom allies is probably only days away in what will be a decisive week for Somalia.
The African Union force, which also includes Kenyan and Burundian troops, is planning an onslaught on Somalia's second biggest city Kismayu, which is a hub for the Islamist militants, before August 20.

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