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Punjab govt helicopter crash lands in Afghanistan, seven held hostage
August 4, 2016
By: Samaa Web Desk
Published in
Global,
Pakistan
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File photo of Punjab Government’s helicopter
ISLAMABAD: Seven people were held hostage by Afghan Taliban after a Punjab government helicopter made an emergency landing in Afghanistan due to mechanical faults on Thursday.
The Russian helicopter MI-17 carrying six Pakistani engineers were traveling to Uzbekistan before it made crash landing in Afghanistan’s Logar area.
The plane was reportedly set on fire by the Afghan Taliban, who also held Pakistani officials and a Russian pilot hostage.
Speaking to SAMAA about the incident, Air Marshal (retd) Abid Rao said that the government must launch diplomatic efforts to rescue Pakistani engineers captured by Afghan Taliban.
He said that the pilot should have chosen a safe air route to fly instead of going from Afghan territory, where Afghan Taliban had still strong presence.
Meanwhile, Foreign Office has approached the Afghan government and sought their help to safely recover Pakistani nationals.
– ‘Helicopter caught fire after crash’ –
The insurgents have not so far commented on the incident.
“An Mi-17 transport helicopter belonging to the Punjab government was scheduled to fly to Russia for repair. We think the same chopper crash-landed in Logar,” Pakistani embassy spokesman Akhtar Munir told AFP.
“We don’t know anything about the fate of those on-board or why it crash-landed.”
The local district governor Hamidullah Hamid said six people on board had been taken hostage by Taliban insurgents.
“They have been taken to an unknown location,” he said.
The helicopter caught fire after it crashed, said Logar governor’s spokesman Salim Saleh.
Russian-made Mi-17s are used by the Pakistani military. -Samaa/Agencies
