Earlier, Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif spoke to top USA and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation commander in Afghanistan Gen John Nicholson and President Ghani, seeking their help for early recovery of the crew.
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On Thursday, the army chief had contacted top USA commander in Afghanistan General John Nicholson asking for his global military coalition’s help in recovering the men.
The helicopter was overflying Afghanistan on its way to Russian Federation for overhaul. General Nicholson assured Gen Raheel of all possible help in the matter.
The highway where the attack unfolded connects Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city, to the mountainous Bamiyan Province, the site of an ancient Buddhist monastery.
However, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban has claimed that the crew members are in its captivity and threatened to kill them if any attempt is made by the Afghan or USA forces for their release.
Afghan officials said the Taliban took the crew members along with them and efforts were underway to secure their release.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded at least seven people.
Local officials said 12 foreign travellers were being escorted by the Afghan army when they were ambushed on their way to the city of Herat in the west of the country. “We have formally requested the Government of Afghanistan to help in their safe recovery, at the earliest possible”, he said further.
The Taliban commander added that it was no use seeking help from the Afghan government or United States military, because the Taliban are in full control of the district.
One Afghan driver was also injured in the attack. The crew of the copter are unhurt and feared captured by Taliban, a provincial government spokesman said.
Agencies add: Afghan defence ministry said in a statement they had launched an investigation into the incident.
Qari Saifullah Saif, a commander of the Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan as the Pakistani Taliban are known, said the crew are in “safe hands” of the local TTP commander, Adam Kochi, in neighboring Afghanistan’s Logar province.
In 2001, Taliban militants destroyed famous 1,500-year-old statues of Buddha carved into a cliff in Bamiyan on apparent orders from then leader Mohammed Omar, who sought to remove non-Islamic artifacts and culture from Afghanistan.
Sources informed that the chopper is expected to be handed over to Pakistan through Torkham border crossing sometime today.
It is being hoped that the Taliban will safely return the crew members and that this episode will end peacefully.
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Afghan interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told Afghanistan’s Tolo news channel the tourists had been on their way from Bamiyan to Herat, via Ghor.
