3 officers among 22 security personnel killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir chopper crash

At least 22 security personnel, including three senior officers, were killed when a military chopper crashed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on June 10, Pakistani security sources told Anadolu on Thursday.

The deceased include “one colonel, two major-rank officers and 19 soldiers,” the sources said about the Wednesday incident involving a Pakistani Army Mi-17 helicopter that crashed near Muzaffarabad during takeoff due to a reported technical fault.

“An inquiry is ongoing,” said the sources.

Following the crash, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media and public relations wing of the Pakistan armed forces, had said all personnel on board were killed in the accident.

The helicopter was part of Pakistan Army aviation operations when it went down shortly after take-off in the mountainous region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, also known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The ISPR added that a board of inquiry will determine the exact cause of the technical malfunction that led to the crash.