According to the US-based news website Somalia Report, U.S. Special Forces are deployed from Djibouti with “CIA owned and operated Mi-17A’s flown by American contract pilots (one is a female) ostensibly on behalf of the US-trained Puntland Intelligence Services.”[702] A reliable military source with knowledge of such operations has independently corroborated the use of Mi-17 in Somalia by the U.S. military and has told the SEMG that in at least one case, Somali proxies fighting alongside US security personnel were allegedly airlifted back to Djibouti for treatment.[703]
According to the US-based news website Somalia Report, U.S. Special Forces are deployed from Djibouti with “CIA owned and operated Mi-17A’s flown by American contract pilots (one is a female) ostensibly on behalf of the US-trained Puntland Intelligence Services.”[702] A reliable military source with knowledge of such operations has independently corroborated the use of Mi-17 in Somalia by the U.S. military and has told the SEMG that in at least one case, Somali proxies fighting alongside US security personnel were allegedly airlifted back to Djibouti for treatment.[703]