UAS Crash in Puntland Region of Somalia

A surveillance UAS has crashed in the semi-autonomous north eastern region of Bari in the Puntland region of Somalia, according to Puntland Ports and Anti-piracy Minister Saeed Mohamed Rage. It crashed on Saturday in Qaw, a village located 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the port city of Bossasso, the minister of the Puntland State of Somalia said.

A local security source described it as a small jet UAS which is now in Puntland custody. U.S. military flies surveillance UAS from the Seychelles to monitor piracy off the coast of East Africa.  But Rage said it is not clear what sort of UAS crashed.  Washington has increasingly turned to unmanned aircraft to carry out covert strikes in several countries, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen.

The Pentagon identified the UAS that crashed near Bulo Marer on Tuesday as a Schiebel Camcopter S-100.

Bulamareer residents said al-Shabab had kept them away from the crash site. “Al-Shabab fighters surrounded the scene. We are not allowed to go near it,” resident Aden Farah told Reuters.


Source: Tehran Times

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