KAMPALA, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- At least two soldiers and a civilian were killed after a Ugandan military helicopter en route for operations against Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) crashed in Uganda's western district of Ntoroko on Tuesday, a military spokesperson said.
Felix Kulayigye, Uganda's defense spokesperson, said in a statement issued in the national capital of Kampala late Tuesday that two army crew members of the rank of lieutenant and a civilian whose house was crashed into by the Mi-28 gunship died in the general areas of Karugutu, Ntoroko District, at about 2:00 p.m. local time.
"The crew died (as) heroes as they participated in the struggle to pacify our western frontier of the dreadful ADF terrorists," said Kulayigye.
The Ugandan and DRC military are fighting ADF rebels in eastern DRC, with operations involving air force attack planes, helicopters, and ground troops.
"Experts shall investigate the details of the accident. Identities of the crew shall be made available after informing the next of kin. We commiserate with their families at this very difficult moment," said Kulayigye.
The military said in an earlier statement that the crash was purely accidental. ■
