Unidentified UAS Crashes in Somalia

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An unidentified unmanned air system (UAS) drone has crashed in a remote area in South-Western Somalia . The cause of the crash is still unclear.

The Surveillance drone which its origin is yet known went down in an area close to Burhakaba district, a town located in the Southwestern Bay region and some 184-kilometres from Mogadishu on Saturday evening.

Al Shabaab militants who still control parts of the region took the wreckage of the aircraft, residents who spoke on condition of anonymity told Horseed Media.

A spokesman from the al-Qaeda-linked militant group Abdiaziz Abu-Mus’ab said that they are investigating the origin of the UAS and causes of the crash.

In 2013, a U.S UAS crashed in a remote area of the Somali coastline south of Mogadishu. Al Shabaab claimed it had shot down though the U.S officials declined to comment on the group’s claims.

The United States uses unmanned aircraft in its campaign against al-Shabaab and over the past years several senior officials of the group were killed in airstrikes.

Earlier this year, Somalia’s federal government revealed that it will deploy UAS  in its offensive against al-Shabaab.