Six killed in military helicopter crash: official

Six soldiers were killed when a Pakistani military helicopter crashed in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan overnight, the military said Sunday. The MI-17 helicopter crash landed at Nawapass in Bajaur district due to a technical fault, the military said in a statement. "Six soldiers embraced martyrdom. The pilots of the helicopter were injured but are safe and out of danger." A senior military official late Saturday told a foreign news agency the MI-17 helicopter was returning from a routine supply mission to the border areas of Bajaur when it crashed near Charmung village, killing three people and wounding two others. Pakistani security forces launched a huge operation against Islamist militants in Bajaur last August. In February, they claimed the area had been cleared, but unrest has continued.

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