Nigerian Air Force Mi-17/171 Crash

A Nigerian Air Force Mi-171E crashed near Chukuba village, in the Shiroro area of Niger State, while conducting a casualty-evacuation mission for troops who had come under attack. The air force confirmed the crash, said its crew were killed and opened an investigation; an armed group separately claimed that it had shot the helicopter down. Independent accounts did not resolve the cause, and the number of dead was not established consistently in the reporting. The Mi-17 family carries the bulk of Nigerian military air mobility in the northwest, where units depend on helicopters for resupply and evacuation.