A chopper crashes at American military base in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A chopper owned by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] crashed on Saturday in Balidogle Army training base in Lower Shabelle, the mission confirmed in a statement, noting that most passengers were members of the Somali National Army [SNA].

In the statement, ATMIS said 11 passengers were on board at the time of the crash, but three of them died on the spot. The remaining eight sustained injuries and have since been airlifted to Mogadishu for further treatment, although the extent of injuries still remains unknown.

According to the mission, the soldiers on board were attending a joint military training mission on evacuation drills when the helicopter crashed in the heavily fortified military base which is used by the US Africa Command in training the elite Danab Special Forces of the Somali army.

The US temporarily withdrew from the base in 2021 when former President Donald Trump raised concerns about the recurrent and operations expenses of the US military working outside America. However, President Joe Biden reinstated the soldiers last year following the resurgence of Al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia.

Since then, the US Africa Command has been working closely with African Union Transition Mission in Somalia and the Somali National Army in flushing Al-Shabaab from the country. Since July last year, over 600 Al-Shabaab extortionists have been killed according to the Somali government.

ATMIS noted that "investigations have been activated to establish the cause of the crash". Aircraft accidents are not common around the world and in Somalia, a country where air transport is deemed effective, such accidents are rarely recorded by the aviation team.

The Al-Shabaab militants attempted to run over the base sometime in 2019 but they were overpowered by the US military which was on standby. Balidogle is considered the safest Forward Operating Base within the country and a number of ATMIS and SNA soldiers usually use the facility for high-profile training.

GAROWE ONLINE