Kenya’s Internal Security Minister George Saitoti was killed Sunday along with five others in a police helicopter crash near Nairobi

Kenya's Internal Security Minister George Saitoti was killed Sunday along with five others in a police helicopter crash near Nairobi, 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 Shebab insurgents in neighbouring Somalia.
  
Saitoti was killed along with Joshua Orwa Ojonde, the assistant minister for internal security, the two pilots -- including a woman -- and two bodyguards when the helicopter came down in the Ngong hills outside the capital.
  
President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga paid tribute to Saitoti, who played a prominent role in the campaign against Somali insurgents, blamed for a series of terror attacks and kidnappings on Kenyan soil.
  
"The government will ensure a thorough probe" into the cause of the crash, Odinga told journalists at the crash site.
  
Saitoti was on his way to attend a religious ceremony in western Kenya when the Eurocopter came down in the Kibuku forest around 8:30 am (0530 GMT) shortly after taking off from Nairobi's Wilson airport.