Somalia: UPDF plane on fire
A cargo plane carrying military equipment and six UPDF soldiers for the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia caught fire as it landed in Mogadishu yesterday morning.
By Henry Mukasa
A cargo plane carrying military equipment and six UPDF soldiers for the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia caught fire as it landed in Mogadishu yesterday morning.
A Somali Islamic group has claimed it shot at the aircraft, but the spokesman for the UPDF said evidence so far suggests a technical problem.
“The plane carried military equipment and some six soldiers and everything is safe now. We highly believe that the fire was due to some technical problems,†said Capt. Paddy Ankunda. “Part of the plane was damaged beyond repair.â€
According to a witness, the pilot and the UPDF soldiers escaped safely and hastily removed all the cargo.
It took one hour for the only fire-fighting truck available at the airport to reach the plane as it had no fuel.
“The plane landed with smoke coming out of the back wing,†said Ahmed Abdisalam Adan, programme director of HornAfrik radio in Mogadishu.
“The airport was closed for three hours and all traffic was diverted to K50,†an airstrip 50km west of Mogadishu, he added.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Wednesday’s clash between the UPDF and Somali gunmen has risen to at least 13. A Ugandan convoy came under mortar attack only one day after the UPDF had arrived in Mogadishu.
“The mortar missed, smashing a restaurant nearby,†explained Ahmed. “In the attack and the subsequent exchange of fire, 13 to 15 civilians were killed and 20 wounded.â€
Ankunda confirmed the civilian casualties. “It is true, a lot of people were killed in that attack,†he said. “The mortar which missed our vehicle landed straight into the restaurant. That is why our vehicle managed to drive through.â€
Two UPDF soldiers were injured. Private Robert Bamutaraki and Lt. Michael Wandera, who were hit by shrapnel in the leg and the arm, were flown back to Uganda on Thursday morning.
The AU is still investigating the incident. A radical Muslim youth group, calling itself the Islamic Courts Movement, has threatened to wage ‘Jihad’ or holy war against the peacekeeping force.
Around 1,000 of the 1,700 Ugandan soldiers had by yesterday arrived in the Somali capital. Their task is to protect the transitional government and its institutions and to train the Somali army.
A cargo plane carrying military equipment and six UPDF soldiers for the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia caught fire as it landed in Mogadishu yesterday morning.
A Somali Islamic group has claimed it shot at the aircraft, but the spokesman for the UPDF said evidence so far suggests a technical problem.
“The plane carried military equipment and some six soldiers and everything is safe now. We highly believe that the fire was due to some technical problems,†said Capt. Paddy Ankunda. “Part of the plane was damaged beyond repair.â€
According to a witness, the pilot and the UPDF soldiers escaped safely and hastily removed all the cargo.
It took one hour for the only fire-fighting truck available at the airport to reach the plane as it had no fuel.
“The plane landed with smoke coming out of the back wing,†said Ahmed Abdisalam Adan, programme director of HornAfrik radio in Mogadishu.
“The airport was closed for three hours and all traffic was diverted to K50,†an airstrip 50km west of Mogadishu, he added.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Wednesday’s clash between the UPDF and Somali gunmen has risen to at least 13. A Ugandan convoy came under mortar attack only one day after the UPDF had arrived in Mogadishu.
“The mortar missed, smashing a restaurant nearby,†explained Ahmed. “In the attack and the subsequent exchange of fire, 13 to 15 civilians were killed and 20 wounded.â€
Ankunda confirmed the civilian casualties. “It is true, a lot of people were killed in that attack,†he said. “The mortar which missed our vehicle landed straight into the restaurant. That is why our vehicle managed to drive through.â€
Two UPDF soldiers were injured. Private Robert Bamutaraki and Lt. Michael Wandera, who were hit by shrapnel in the leg and the arm, were flown back to Uganda on Thursday morning.
The AU is still investigating the incident. A radical Muslim youth group, calling itself the Islamic Courts Movement, has threatened to wage ‘Jihad’ or holy war against the peacekeeping force.
Around 1,000 of the 1,700 Ugandan soldiers had by yesterday arrived in the Somali capital. Their task is to protect the transitional government and its institutions and to train the Somali army.