Pakistan’s Army Chief of Staff General Raheel Sharif has asked the U.S to help secure the safe release of Pakistani helicopter crew members a day after they were captured by the Taliban following their crash landing in Logar province.
Meanwhile, a number of analysts have cast doubts over the incident. The helicopter reportedly made a crash landing Thursdayafternoon, after which the crew and passengers on board were allegedly captured by the Taliban.
According to the provincial governor’s spokesman Saleem Saleeh, the helicopter crashed in the Mati area of Azra district.
It is not however clear what the Pakistani helicopter was doing in Afghan air space over Logar province which is close to Kabul.
But the Pakistani government has claimed that the chopper MI17 with seven people including a Russian engineer on board had taken off from Punjab province of Pakistan and crash landed in a Taliban stronghold in Logar.
“We are investigating whether this was the chopper that asked for permission (to enter Afghan air space) or was it another chopper,” defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said.
In a telephonic conversation with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the Pakistani army chief of staff said the chopper was on its way to Russia for repairs when crashed in Afghanistan.
But, Russian officials so far have not made an official comment on the incident.
“The crash landing of the chopper raises questions. Why it caught fire so quickly after landing, this is a question. Apparently they do not want to leave clues behind about the mission of the chopper,” said law expert Nasrullah Stanekzai.
“Crew and the material inside the chopper was taken away by the Taliban, this indicates that Pakistan is involved in the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan cooperates with the opponents,” said Eskandar Asghari, military analyst.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Friday said that it has started an investigation into the incident. http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/26597-pakistan-asks-us-to-help-bring-back-chopper-crew
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