Kenya minister among helicopter crash victims

Deaths of internal security minister George Saitoti and five others welcomed by al-Shabab as a "droplet of justice"

Kenya's minister for internal security, who once served as the country's vice president, and his deputy are among six people who died when a police helicopter crashed near the capital Nairobi, according to Kenyan officials.

Minister George Saitoti and his deputy, Orwa Ojode, were killed in the crash, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said on Sunday.

Two pilots and two bodyguards were also killed, officials said.

Saitoti, 66, was a candidate in next year's presidential election and a key figure driving his country's fight against al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab fighters in neighbouring Somalia.

Following news of his death, al-Shabab released a message on its Twitter account, saying: "[Al-Shabab] welcomes the death of the evil minister upon whose authorisation thousands of Muslims suffered both in Somalia and in Kenya."

"For the hundreds of Muslims killed and displaced by Kenya's brutal invasion, Saitoti's death is but a droplet of justice in a sea of oppression," the group tweeted.

The crash occurred in the Ngong hills on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, a police source told AFP, adding that the reason for the crash was not immediately clear.

Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister, said investigations into the cause of the crash had started and that the cabinet would hold a special session on the incident.

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Source: Al Jazeera