A military helicopter from the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia reportedly crashed at the airport in the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday and engulfed in flames, the state-run SONNA news outlet reported.
The Helicopter from the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) was carrying eight personnel when it crashed during landing, SONNA said on its X account, adding that the fire had been contained.
It was not immediately clear whether there were casualties. An AUSSOM spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.
“We heard the blast and saw smoke and flames over a helicopter,” Farah Abdulle, who works at the airport, told Reuters.
“The smoke entirely covered the Helicopter.”
AUSSOM has more than 11,000 personnel in Somalia to help the country’s military counter Islamist group Al Shabaab.
The al Qaeda affiliate has been fighting for nearly two decades to topple Somalia’s internationally-recognised government and establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of sharia law.
Several incidents involving AU Helicopters in Somalia have been reported recently.
A previous incident involved a Helicopter crash in September 2024, for which three Ugandan military officers were charged with negligence. The helicopter was ferrying African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) troops, which has since transitioned to AUSSOM.
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Another incident involved a Burundian AU Helicopter that crashed near Hawadley, approximately 50 kilometers north of Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab militants claimed to have shot down the helicopter during the evacuation of peacekeepers from Hawadley, which the insurgents had seized.
However, AUSSOM stated that the crash was due to a technical malfunction, and all crew members were safely extracted to a nearby base.
The conflicting accounts of the crashes highlight the challenges in the region. The incident near Hawadley, where Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, underscores the deteriorating security landscape and the group’s ability to operate near Mogadishu. The capture of Hawadley, a strategically important town, grants Al-Shabaab a logistical advantage and tightens their encirclement of Mogadishu.
The incident also raises questions about the operational resilience of the AU mission and the broader trajectory of the Somali conflict. The fact that Al-Shabaab was able to display the downed helicopter and claim responsibility suggests a significant propaganda victory and a potential erosion of confidence in the AU mission.
The AU has over 11,000 personnel in Somalia to help the country’s military counter al-Shabaab.
Al-Shabaab has been fighting for nearly two decades to topple Somalia’s internationally recognized government. The group has demonstrated its capacity for high-level attacks, as seen in the capture of a UN-contracted Helicopter in January 2024, which resulted in casualties and kidnappings.
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