ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has formally requested the Afghan government to locate the Pakistani helicopter, which crash-landed in the Logar Province on Thursday, and recover the crew members.
Taking action on the media reports about crash landing of the helicopter in Afghanistan, Foreign Office requested the Afghan government to recover the crew safe and sound. “We are waiting for Afghan government’s response to confirm what happened, whereabouts of the helicopter and fate of its passengers,” Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria told Daily Times on Friday.
Foreign Office said in a statement that it had been in contact with all relevant authorities in Afghanistan. It said that the Afghan government had been requested to locate the helicopter and make efforts for early recovery of the crew. The Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul was actively pursuing the matter.
Punjab government’s Mi-17 chopper, which was on its way to Russia via Uzbekistan for maintenance, had to make a crash landing in Afghanistan’s Logar Province on Thursday night. The media reported that Taliban militants had taken the crew hostage.
A senior Afghan Taliban commander, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed all seven passengers were in their custody and that negotiations for their release were ongoing. The commander’s claim has not been independently verified.
“They are being looked after, being provided tea, food, everything,” he said. “We are in touch with the Pakistani officials. We conveyed to them that they are in safe hands.” He added that it was no use seeking help from the Afghan government or US military “because the Taliban are in full control of the district. Afghan government has no control over the area”.
Hamidullah Hamid, governor of the Azra District in Logar Province, said that all seven people aboard the chopper had been detained by the Taliban after the crash. He said “the government has no control of the area” where the chopper crashed and burst into flames.
The Pakistani government and military did not directly confirm direct talks with the Taliban.
Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif called Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday and the Afghan president assured him of his government’s full support for recovery of the crew. The army chief also talked to General John Nicholson, commander of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, over the phone on Thursday night about safe recovery of the crew members — six Pakistanis and one Russian.
In a related development, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the government was exhausting “formal and informal channels” for recovery of the passengers. “We are profoundly concerned about the safety of the whole team that was travelling on the helicopter. We have formally requested the government of Afghanistan to help in their safe recovery at the earliest possible,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Asim Bajwa earlier confirmed that seven people were on board the helicopter, including retired military officers and a Russian navigator.http://dailytimes.com.pk/islamabad/06-Aug-16/zero-progress-on-copter-crew-taken-hostage-by-taliban
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