The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that militants in the Sudanese Darfur region hijacked a Russian helicopter on Monday, with four Russian crew and five Sudanese passengers on board.
“According to the information we have, there are no casualties,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the helicopter was not damaged.
The ministry is taking all necessary steps to obtain the release of the Russian citizens involved and to clarify the situation.
The helicopter is part of the Russian UTair Aviation company and was working in Sudan on a United Nations (UN) contract. When it was hijacked, the helicopter was on a joint UN and African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
Russia has been maintaining a peacekeeping contingent in the war-torn country since April 2006 as part of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).
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UPDATE:
The helicopter allegedly hijacked by militants in Sudan has returned unscathed to its home base in the province of Darfur on Tuesday, a Russian aviation company said in a statement.
The aviation company that owns the helicopter, UTAir, said in a statement on Tuesday that the helicopter had returned to its home base in western Sudan. The helicopter was not damaged and the crew and passengers are safe, according to the statement.
“After landing at a stopover point in Sudan, the helicopter was detained by Sudanese authorities,” the statement read. On Monday, the helicopter was en route from Al-Fashir, Sudan, to a village in Chad on a UN mission.
“UN representatives are presently investigating the incident. UTAir and the Russian Embassy along with UN representatives in Sudan are taking all measures to clarify the situation,” the statement said.
Source and originally published at RIA Novosti
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