Al Qaeda-Linked Terrorists Capture UN Chopper in Somalia

A United Nations helicopter in Somalia carrying two Somali men and several foreigners was captured Wednesday by militants from Al-Shabab, the radical Al-Qaeda linked Islamist group that controls swathes of the war-torn African country.

The helicopter encountered a defect shortly after taking off from a city in central Somalia, forcing it land in an area controlled by Shabab, a Somali military official told the Reuters news agency.

“Two Somali men and several foreigners were on board,” the official said. “It was carrying medical supplies and was supposed to transport injured soldiers.”

The Al Jazeera broadcast network, meanwhile, reported on a UN memo that detailed who was onboard: nine passengers in total, including military personnel and a third-party contractor.

Six of the nine were said to have been taken by the militants, while two reportedly escaped but remain at large. The ninth passenger was killed, the New York Times reported.

Al-Shabab has waged a violent insurgency against the government in Somalia and its allies for close to two decades. The group brings in about $120 million a year through extortion and taxation, the Times reported, citing U.S. and Somali officials.