Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry says that four of its citizens were among those captured by al-Qaida-linked extremists in Somalia after their helicopter that was contracted by the United Nations made an emergency landing in territory controlled by the militants earlier this week.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry says that four of its citizens were among those captured by al-Qaida-linked extremists in Somalia after their helicopter that was contracted by the United Nations made an emergency landing in territory controlled by the militants earlier this week.

Officials say the helicopter went down on Wednesday because of engine failure and was then attacked by al-Shabab militants who killed one person and abducted the other passengers.

“Our citizens were members of the helicopter crew of the United Nations Mission in Somalia that crashed,” said Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian foreign affairs ministry said Friday in a Facebook post.

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    11 months ago

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    NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry says that four of its citizens were among those captured by al-Qaida-linked extremists in Somalia after their helicopter that was contracted by the United Nations made an emergency landing in territory controlled by the militants earlier this week.

    “Our citizens were members of the helicopter crew of the United Nations Mission in Somalia that crashed,” said Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian foreign affairs ministry said Friday in a Facebook post.

    The minister of internal security of Galmudug state in central Somalia, Mohamed Abdi Aden Gaboobe, told The Associated Press by phone on Thursday that the helicopter made the landing because of engine failure in Xindheere village.

    A number of mortar rounds landed inside the Aden Adde International Airport area, in which the U.N. compound is located, on Thursday night, according to a statement from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Somalia, or UNSOM.

    Al-Shabab still controls parts of southern and central Somalia and continues to carry out attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and other areas while extorting millions of dollars a year from residents and businesses in its quest to impose an Islamic state.

    Last month, Somalia’s government welcomed the U.N. Security Council’s vote to lift the arms embargo imposed on the country more than three decades ago, saying it would help in the modernization of Somali forces.

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