The United Nations said on Wednesday that one of its helicopters “crashed” while landing in Somalia and passengers may have been taken hostage by the radical Islamist Shebab.
The helicopter with nine passengers and crew on board “crashed on landing” about 70 km southeast of Dhusamareb, the capital of central Galmudug state, according to an internal UN memorandum seen by AFP.
The incident occurred in an area believed to be under the control of the Islamist group Shebab, and six passengers may have been taken hostage by the jihadists, “although this cannot be independently verified,” it said in this memo.
One passenger died under unclear circumstances and two others managed to escape to unknown locations, he continues.
The employees are contractors and not UN employees, the memo said, mentioning one person of Somali nationality. The nationality of the other people on board was not specified.
“All United Nations flights in the area have been temporarily suspended until further notice,” the memo said.
Somali government officials did not respond to requests for comment at this time.
When asked about this case, United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric stated that it was “an incident involving a helicopter contracted to the United Nations that occurred today (Wednesday) in Galmudug, Somalia.”
“The effort is underway,” he told reporters in New York. “In the interest of everyone on board, we will say nothing further at this time,” he added. “We are committed to solving this problem.”
According to a separate statement sent to a UN agency in Somalia consulted by AFP, “a tragic helicopter crash incident occurred” in Galmudug, but there were no UN staff on board.
Shebab has been fighting against the Somali federal government for more than 16 years with the support of the international community. They have been considered a terrorist group in Washington since 2008.
After being driven out of major cities in 2011 and 2012, they remain based in large rural areas in the center and south of the country, from where they regularly carry out attacks on security, political and civilian targets.
The government of President Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud launched a major offensive in August 2023, supported by the American army and the African Union (Atmis) force present in the country, which, after allowing the recapture of areas in the center of the country, is currently active at standstill.