Ugandan Helicopters Missing in Kenya

Nairobi--Search is underway for two Ugandan military helicopters that have gone missing in Kenyan airspace that were part of a contingent heading to Somalia to reinforce the African Union forces there, Kenyan army officials say.

Four helicopters took off from Uganda on Sunday headed for Somalia, but only one made it to the supposed stopover at the Kenyan town of Wajir. The three other helicopters went missing around the dense forested Mount Kenya region and are feared to have crashed.

“Four choppers left Uganda, one landed in Garissa…The three other helicopters went missing around the Mount Kenya region, but "the pilot of one has communicated to us," Kenyan army spokesman, Bogita Ongeri, said on Monday.

It’s still not known whether the helicopter of the the pilot who contacted Kenyan military officials had crashed or had landed safely.

Mr Ongeri said, they have launched a search and rescue mission both on air and land for the two missing helicopters though the heavy rain and bad weather conditions in the region continue to hamper the process.

It is not clear exactly how many people were on board missing helicopters which the Kenyan officials identified as the Russian made Mi-24 transport helicopters which can carry up to eight passengers.

Ugandan troops form the largest contingent of the 17,000-strong AU peacekeeping force in Somalia that is fighting the Islamist group al-Shabab that is seeking to topple the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

Recently Uganda had earlier pledged to reinforce the air force wing with more planes as the AU forces which also comprise of Kenyan and Burundian troops prepare for the final onslaught on al-Shabab’ stronghold of Kismayu, before August 20.

Weakened by internal wrangles and financial constrains due to loss of strategic positions including the capital, Mogadishu, the al-Shabab have changed combat to suicide bombings in targeted areas, though it continues to control large swathes of land in central and southern Somalia.

The National Constituent Assembly earlier this month approved a provisional constitution that will succeed the eight-year old Transitional Federal Charter that saw establishment of the TFG whose mandate expires in August 20.

Abuja Nigeria

Nigerian Army Kills 20 Suspected Boko Haram Members

Nigerian military has killed 20 suspected members of the armed Boko Haram Islamist sect in one of their hideouts in the northern state of Maiduguri, army officials say.

Victor Ebhaleme, a commander with the military unit tasked to stamp out the Islamist sect, said one soldier had been killed and two others injured during the Sunday raid in one of the sect members’ hideout in the Gwaidamgari area of Maiduguri.

"We got a report that some suspected members of Boko Haram were meeting at a particular location in Maiduguri. Our men mobilised, leading to a shootout. Twenty suspected terrorists were killed," Mr Ebhaleme told AFP news agency.

No arrests were made during the raid, which Boko Haram has denied any deaths of its members, accusing the military of killing innocent people in an attempt to dislodge the group.Spokesman of the group identified as Abul Qaqa who has occasionally spoken to the media, rejected the military claims as false.

"They only succeeded in killing innocent civilians. It is not possible for 20 of our members to sit in a volatile place and hold meeting," said Qaqa.

Boko Haram which loosely translates to “western education is forbidden” has been wagging insurgency in northern Nigeria against the government in bid to instill Islamic rule throughout Nigeria, a multi-cultural nation divided between a largely Muslim north and south, inhibited mainly by Christians and animists .

Heightened attacks in June by the group had threatened sectarian tension in the country between Christians and Muslims after attacks on church services blamed on the group became widespread, prompting reprisal attacks by Christian youths on mainly Muslims.

More than 640 people have died in the country so far in 2012 alone in attacks blamed on the group which is thought to have connections with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a group already designated as a terrorist organisation by the US.