Uganda sending combat helicopters to Somalia battle
Uganda has announced that it will be sending attack and transport helicopters to bolster its forces fighting the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab insurgency in Somalia.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said the helicopters would help evacuate the injured, improve communication and carry out operations against the militants.
The first attempt to deploy helicopters ended tragically in August 2012 when three of the aircraft crashed in neighboring Kenya on the way to Somalia killing seven crew members.
Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sierra Leone have deployed troops to Somalia as part of an African Union force bolstering the country's weak government against al-Shabab's insurgency.
