2nd LD Writethru: Pakistani chopper crash-lands in Afghanistan, Taliban hold crew hostage

A Pakistani helicopter on Thursday crash-landed in Afghanistan's Logar province where Taliban militants held its seven crew members hostage, local media reported.

Samaa News said the helicopter was on its way to Uzbekistan for overhauling when it likely met some technical faults and its pilot had to land it in the Logar province, bordering Pakistan's northwest tribal area of Kurram Agency.

The chopper, with seven people on board including two Pakistani pilots, four technicians and a Russian navigator, took off from Pakistan's northwest Peshawar city's airport at 8:45 this morning (local time).

All seven people have been held hostage by the Taliban who also set the chopper on fire.

Some media reports said the helicopter caught fire before crash-landing in which all the seven people got injured.

The Mi-17 helicopter belonged to the government of Pakistan's east Punjab province.

Pakistani foreign office said they are looking into the matter and will provide details shortly.

However, an official confirmed that a helicopter of Punjab government left for Uzbekistan, but they cannot confirm whether it was the same helicopter which crash-landed in Logar.

The official said they are in contact with Afghan authorities for details.

An Afghan army spokesperson confirmed that the Taliban have kept Pakistani helicopter's crew members as hostages. Endit