Logar province has been increasingly lawless since the launch of a military operation two years ago in neighboring Pakistani tribal areas that pushed many Taliban and allied fighters into Afghanistan.
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“The tourists were on their way to Herat from Bamiyan and Ghor provinces”, said Jilani Farhad, the spokesman for Herat’s governor, AFP reported.
“They have been taken to an unknown location”, said local district governor Hamidullah Hamidsaid.
The Mi-17 chopper which was on its way to Russian Federation via Uzbekistan for maintenance crash-landed in Afghanistan’s Logar province.
Afghan Army spokesman Najibullah Najibi also spoke about the attack, stating that a rocket struck the van the tourists were traveling in at about 11 a.m. local time on Thursday.
The Afghan President has assured COAS of his government’s full support in this regard; Director General Inter Services Public Relations Lt-Gen Asim Saleem tweeted.
A Taliban spokesman said on social media his group was responsible for the attacks, CBS reports.
Unofficial sources said the six-member crew was captured by Taliban militants after the chopper went down in the province 60 km south of Kabul.
“They were detained by the Taliban”, Khan said. Pakistani officials have confirmed that six hostages have been taken.
Foreign Office said in a statement that helicopter owned by the Punjab government took off at 8.45 am (local time) for Russian Federation.
Army Chief General Raheel Sharif Friday (today) called requested Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s assistance for the safe recovery of the kidnapped crew aboard a Punjab government helicopter which crashed in Afghanistan Thursday night. He said the hostages had been kept within the district. “The embassy of Pakistan in Kabul is actively pursuing the matter”, said the ministry in a statement.
“The Afghan government has instructed the defence and security agencies to investigate whether or not it was the same helicopter for which permission had been sought”, Afghan defence ministry spokesperson Daulat Waziri said.
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Seven people including two foreign ambassadors were killed in May previous year when an Mi-17 army helicopter crashed at a holiday resort in the mountains of Gilgit.
