Commander Southern Command Lt-Gen Sarfraz Ali and DG Pakistan Coast Guard Maj-Gen Amjad were on board the ill-fated Army Aviation helicopter along with 4 others.
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The military Tuesday confirmed two top generals had embraced martyrdom in a helicopter crash along with 4 staff and crew while on a flood relief mission in Balochistan Monday.
Search and rescue teams on Tuesday recovered bodies of six army officials, including Commander 12 Corps Lt-Gen Sarfraz Ali and DG Pakistan Coast Guard Maj-Gen Amjad, aboard a helicopter that crashed into a mountain in Pakistan’s south-western Balochistan province a day earlier during a flood relief operation, military said.
“The wreckage of unfortunate helicopter, which was on flood relief operation found in Musa Goth, Windar, Lasbela. All 6 officers & soldiers including Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali embraced shahadat,” the military said in a statement. “Accident occurred due to bad weather as per initial investigations.”
The army aviation helicopter went incommunicado shortly after taking off from Quetta on a flood relief mission on Monday. The whirly bird left Quetta sometime afternoon, but lost contact with ground authorities soon afterwards.
The wreckage was found on a mountain in Lasbela district, a senior police official said.
The official passenger manifest says on board the helicopter were Commander 12 Corps, DG PCG Brig Amjad (promoted Maj-Gen, last SB 1), CC Engrs 12 Corps Brig Khalid, Maj Saeed (Pilot), Maj Talha (Co Pilot), and Crew Cheif Nk Mudassir.
Soon after the reports of the chopper going missing surfaced, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who returned from a visit of Balochistan on Monday evening, expressed his deep concern
Balochistan has been inundated by severe flooding recently after heavy monsoon rains. Military and civilian authorities are carrying out relief operations in the flood hit areas.
The province is also a hotbed of insurgency with several groups like BLA (Baloch Liberation Army), BLF (Baloch Liberation Front), etc., mounting attacks on strategic targets from their mountain hideouts.
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