Pakistani helicopter crash lands in Afghanistan, Afghan Taliban take crew members hostage

An Mi-17 helicopter from Pakistan crash landed in Afghanistan’s Logar province and according to reports, all the crew members on-board have been taken hostage. There are conflicting reports as to who the helicopter really belongs to.

Mystery also surrounds how the helicopter caught fire. According to some eye witnesses, the helicopter caught fire as it was landing, whereas there are others who claim that the Taliban torched the helicopter after they took its crew members as captors.

Initially it was reported that the Mi-17 belongs to the Punjab Government and that six government officials and one Russian engineer were in the helicopter. However, it was later reported by an Afghan news channel that the helicopter belonged to Pakistan Army.

The Pakistan Army however, has denied these claims and an officer told media reporters that the helicopter does not belong to the military. He said that the claim by the Afghan officials that the helicopter belonged to the Pakistan Army is ‘not true’.

Meanwhile, Afghan Taliban spokesperson said he had no information about the incident. “We will try to get information,” Zabihullah Mujahid said when his comments were sought about the reports.

Even The Resolute Support Missions was contacted whether the helicopter belonged to them but they said that the helicopter “does not appear to be a Nato aircraft.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Office is still trying to contact Afghan officials in order to get more information on the incident.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more news comes in.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=53785

Posted by fatimaarshad on Aug 4 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.