Dujarric granted the incident took place in Galmudug, Somalia but he did not provide further details for the safety of personnel aboard the aircraft. The authority just added, “response efforts are ongoing.”

According to press reports, members of Al Shabaab, an Al Qaeda-related group in Somalia, seized a UN helicopter carrying two Somalian men and several foreigners as well as medical supplies on Wednesday.

The aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in an area controlled by the Islamist group shortly after taking off from the town of Beledweyne in central Somalia. As pilots had identified a defect in the aircraft and had to land, Mayor Hassan Ali revealed.

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