Envoys of the Philippines and Norway and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors were among seven persons killed when a Pakistani military helicopter crashed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Friday.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed it had downed the chopper with an anti-aircraft missile and said Premier Nawaz Sharif was its target. Bur Mr. Sharif was on another aircraft. The Pakistan Army, however, ruled out the possibility of any terrorist or subversive activity in the crash in PoK’s Gilgit-Baltistan region and said the chopper had crashed due to a technical fault while landing.
Leif H. Larsen, the Norwegian envoy, and Domingo D. Lucenario Jr. of the Philippines were killed along with the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, besides two Army pilots and a crew member in the helicopter that caught fire as it crashed into a school. Six Pakistanis and 11 foreigners were on board.
Sharif’s aircraft diverted
Polish ambassador Andrzej Ananiczolish and Dutch ambassador Marcel de Vink were also injured when the Pakistan military helicopter crashed in Pak-occupied Kashmir on Friday.
The Army pilots killed were identified as Major Altamash and Major Faisal.
Mr. Sharif’s plane was already airborne for Naltar where he was scheduled to inaugurate two projects but it was diverted to Islamabad following the “tragic” news of the crash.
Military spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa said three Mi-17 military helicopters were carrying diplomats from 37 countries to Naltar.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the crash.
Norway, Philippines saddened
Norway expressed “great sadness” over the death on Friday of its ambassador to Pakistan in a helicopter crash claimed by the Taliban.
Larsen was “one of our best and most experienced diplomats” who was “very respected by his colleagues,” Foreign Minister Borge Brende told reporters, adding that his Pakistani counterpart had told him the causes of the crash “could not be fully explained yet.”
Larsen, married and the father of one, had been stationed in Islamabad since 2014.
The ambassador was killed, along with the Philippines envoy and at least five others, when the military helicopter they were travelling in crashed on a school in a remote area of the Himalayas.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it was “deeply saddened” by the death of Ambassador Domingo Lucenario Jr., and that his colleagues in Manila observed a two-minute period of silence.
