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Five survive as Uganda military helicopters crash in Kenya, 2 feared dead
The aircraft came down in thickly forested mountainous terrain dominated by snowcapped Mount Kenya, Africa’s second-highest peak at 5,199 metres (17,057 feet).
An Mi-17 transport helicopter that had taken off from Uganda on Sunday as part of the same mission landed without problems in the eastern Kenyan town of Garissa near the Somali border for a scheduled refueling stop.
Uganda provides around a third of the nearly 17,000-strong African Union force in Somalia, and Kampala had said last week that it would send its first combat and transport helicopters to the Horn of Africa nation.
The aircraft are seen as key to extending gains made against the hardline Al-Shabaab insurgents, who have fled a string of stronghold towns in recent months.
Kenya invaded southern Somalia last year to attack Al-Shabaab bases across its eastern border, before later joining the African Union force.
It has deployed its own air force — including attack helicopters and fighter jets — to bombard Al-Shabaab positions.
Copyright © 2012 AFP.
