Eight KDF Personnel Killed In Chopper Crash In Lamu

At least eight Kenya Defence Forces personnel were Monday September 18 night killed in a helicopter crash in Lamu County.

The cause of the crash is yet to be established. Witnesses said it went up on flames on crash.

The Department of Defence headquarters said Tuesday the Kenya Air Force Huey Helicopter crashed Monday night while on night patrol in Lamu County.

“The crew and other military personnel onboard were part of an air surveillance squadron intensifying day and night patrols and surveillance for the on-going Operation Amani Boni,” DOD said in a statement.

“The leadership and entire KDF fraternity condoles with the families of the crew. A Board of Inquiry has been constituted and dispatched to the scene to establish the cause of the crash.”

The investigation team was expected at the scene Tuesday afternoon to commence a probe.

Other sources said the chopper was flying from Somalia when it crashed in Boni Forest.

“They were personnel returning from Somalia when it went down. We don’t know why it crashed,” said an official aware of the incident.

Kenyan troops are in Somalia under African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) to help in fighting the al-Shabaab terror group. KDF went to Somalia in October 2011.

There are plans to withdraw the troops from the area and let Somalia take over.

The terror group has increased attacks in Kenya in a renewed trend that has left dozens of people dead in the past months alone near the Kenya-Somalia border.

Somalia has not had a stable government after the fall of Siad Barre in 1991.

Within Lamu, KDF is part of a multi agency teams that are involved in major operations in areas near the Kenya-Somalia border amid sporadic attacks.

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The attacks have left dozens of people dead including security agents. Others are nursing wounds.

Officials say they have thwarted dozens of planned attacks by the terrorists killing some of them and recovering materials.

Last Saturday, at least two al-Shabaab militants were Saturday killed in an ambush by military troops in Bodhei area, Lamu County.

The Kenya Defence Forces team said they recovered three AK47 rifles, more than 300 bullets, RPG launchers and warheads.