Pakistan: Navy helicopter crashes in Balochistan, three killed

Three people including two officers killed after a Pakistan Navy helicopter crashed during a routine training flight in the country’s restive Balochistan province on Monday, a navy spokesperson said. The crash happened in the province’s port city of Gwadar when the helicopter developed a technical problem, killing two Navy officers and a sailor of the Pakistan Navy, The News International newspaper reported. “The helicopter crashed during the training flight due to a possible technical fault. Three Navymen– two officers and one sailor – died in the crash,” a spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report. The spokesperson added that an investigation had been launched into the accident. Interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has expressed grief over the loss of lives in the helicopter crash and prayed for the bereaved. Last year in September, six Pakistan Army officials, including two majors, were killed when their helicopter crashed in Balochistan province. Same year in August, a Pakistan army aviation helicopter carrying six senior military officers, including a top commander of XII Corps, crashed while on a flood relief operation in Balochistan province after losing contact with the air traffic control. Resource-rich Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province, is also the hub of a decades-old separatist movement. Various armed groups based in the province have attacked Pakistani security forces and Chinese nationals working in the province in the past.