On Sunday (September 26) night, six Pakistani army officials were killed in a helicopter crash in Harnai district in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The development was confirmed by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), media wing of the Pakistani army.
As per reports, the deceased included two officers. The deceased were identified as Major Khurram Shahzad (39), Major Muhammad Muneeb Afzal (30), Subedar Abdul Wahid (44), Naik Jalil (30), Sepoy Shoaib (35), and Sepoy Muhamad Imran (27).
According to ISPR, the Pakistani army personnel were killed during a flying mission in Harnai. However, it has now come to light that the helicopter was deployed in Balochistan to rescue an abducted army official.
Journalist Kiyya Baloch cited Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) to point out that two helicopters arrived to rescue the kidnapped army official, during which one helicopter carrying 6 personnel was shot down. The kidnapped official was identified as Naib Subedar Kaleem Ullah.
“An official said last night at 9:30, armed men kidnapped Kaleem Ullah, Naib Subedar FC 114 wing Lorala scout on his way to Quetta,” tweeted Kiyya Baloch.
The development was also confirmed by another journalist, Asad Ali Toor.
In a statement on Monday (September 26), BLA said, “Last night freedom fighters of Baloch Liberation Army arrested two personnel of Pakistani military in an intelligence-based operation near Zardaalo, an area in Harnai.”
It added, “Later, Pakistani helicopters arrived in the area. Baloch freedom fighters shot down at least one helicopter near Khost, Harnai, approximately 5 kilometres away from the area where Pakistani personnel were arrested. All six, including the two pilots, onboard the helicopter were killed.”
A similar attack on a helicopter was carried out by BLA on August 1, 2022, which killed 6 Pakistani army personnel. Interestingly, the DG ISPR tried to brush the incident under the carpet by pinning the blame on inclement weather conditions.
Notably, in February this year, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) attacked two posts in Pakistan’s southwest province neutralizing more than 100 Pakistani personnel and destroying a large part of their camps.
The BLA issued an official statement confirming that the major parts of both camps were still under their control. At that time, the Pakistan military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) denied the intensity of the attack and declared a reduced number of deaths.