The UPDF has said the Friday crash of one of their choppers will not in any way dampen their moods during the mission in Somalia.
A helicopter on a mission to support AMISOM troops crashed soon after take-off in Balidogle in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia on Friday.
All the crew aboard the chopper was rescued and is in stable condition according to the AMISOM spokesperson’s office.
However, according to the deputy UPDF spokesperson, Lt Col Deo Akiiki, the crash will not affect the army’s offensives against the Al Shabaab militants in Somalia.
“It doesn’t affect our operations at all. Such eventualities are bound to happen and we always have the second course of action to avoid any stoppage in planned operations,” Lt Col Deo Akiiki told the Nile Post.
“We have more than one set and they hardly operate at ago.”
In July, 2020, the UPDF for the first time in eight years deployed choppers in Somalia to complement its force’s firepower against the Islamic militants after the first attempt in 2021 ended in a disastrous manner.
Last month, the UPDF carried out airstrikes on Al Shabaab hideouts in which over 180 militants were killed whereas some of their commanders were captured.
Gen David Muhoozi, the Chief of Defence Forces in the UPDF last year said the choppers would enable the troops to respond quickly and with “precision fires or inject a quick reaction force” once the enemy assembles.
Apart from providing aerial cover, the choppers act as aerial escorts for convoys, assist in emergence rescue, evacuations, and air searches for the AMISOM forces.
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