Pakistani Helicopter Crashes, Killing 13

Thirteen Pakistani soldiers, including three senior military officers, were killed when an army helicopter crashed Thursday as it headed toward a tribal region that has been a suspected hide-out for Al Qaeda terrorists, officials confirmed.

Four more soldiers were killed and six others wounded when militants ambushed a convoy of the security forces in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region Wednesday night, residents said.

At least seven civilians were also killed and three others injured in an exchange of fire between the troops and militants in the region close to the Afghan border.

According to a statement from the military’s Office of Inter-Services Public Relations, technical difficulties were believed responsible for the crash of a Russian-made MI-17 helicopter near Karak, about 80 miles southwest of Peshawar.

The helicopter had been headed for a town near the South Waziristan region, where security forces are carrying out operations against Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects.

“The helicopter pilot gave a distress signal before it crashed,” an official said. “It was an accident.”

All on board were killed, the military statement said.

Five children were among the seven civilians killed in the exchange of gunfire after the ambush on the convoy in Shakai, residents said.

Unofficial reports suggested that the troop casualties occurred when the army convoy was ambushed en route to Khamrang, close to the Afghan border. The army declined to confirm any deaths.

The ambush brought retaliatory artillery fire from Pakistani security forces.

Heavy exchanges between the security forces and militants continued overnight and helicopter gunships flew overhead, one eyewitness said.

At least two houses were hit by the fire, with several civilians killed, witnesses said.

Doctors at Agency Headquarters Hospital in the town of Wana said three wounded tribesmen were brought in.

Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan’s military spokesman, denied that army retaliation in Shakai caused civilian deaths.

“Security forces fired very precisely. Forces avoid aerial firing, and we do not think it has happened due to military action,” he said.

He blamed any civilian casualties on militants who fired “free flight” rockets and missiles.