ISLAMABAD: There is another reason to celebrate the 69th Independence Day of Pakistan at a grand scale as the six-member crew of the Punjab government helicopter that went missing in Afghanistan on August 4 has been recovered and reached Islamabad on Saturday “safely and in good health”.
The Punjab government had announced that the Mi-17 helicopter was en route to Russia for routine ‘overhauling’ when it crash-landed in Logar on August 4.
Normally, Pakistanis missing inside Afghanistan have taken years to return home with many still missing and in custody of different Afghan warlords.
“Capt Safdar Hussain (Chief pilot), Capt Safdar Ashraf, Capt Muhammad Shafiq-ur-Rehman (First Officer), Nasir Mahmood (Flt Engineer), Muhammad Kausar (Crew Chief) and Sergei Sevastianov (Russian navigator) were released in an inter-tribe exchange on the Pakistan-Afghan border in Fata.
“They were further transported to Islamabad by helicopter,” the Foreign Office spokesman said in a statement.
The crew were later transported to Lahore by a helicopter.
It is expected that the announcement had been made while the crew was expected to go through a thorough de-briefing about the time they were ‘missing’ and details about the condition of the helicopter before it came down.
The Foreign Office did not give further details as to who was holding the crew and whether any Afghan was exchanged for their release or any ransom given.
It only mentioned an “inter-tribe exchange”, leaving many guessing.
Earlier, the Foreign Office had in a statement indicated that the crew was in the custody of the Taliban and in fact some unconfirmed reports had the TTP claiming that the crew was in their custody.
The statement also did not explain why a helicopter that was in need of ‘overhauling’ was made to fly a long distance instead of being transported in an aircraft.
Distance between Pakistan and Moscow as the Punjab government indicated is certainly a long haul for a helicopter.
At the time the Foreign Office spokesman commented, “On 4 August 2016, a helicopter APBGX type MI-17 of the Government of the Punjab overflying the Afghan aerial territory on its journey through Central Asia disappeared from the flight control system. This coincided with the Afghan media reports that a helicopter crash-landed in Logar province in Afghanistan and that the Pakistani crew members and a Russian navigator were taken into custody by the Taliban.
“The helicopter had flight clearance for the journey from the Afghan air control authorities as per usual procedure.”
From the sketchy details it appears that the pilot of the helicopter was forced to land in an unpopulated area after engine trouble. That the area of Logar was in the control of the Taliban was a harsh reality.
According to one report at the time, the helicopter flew at 8:45am from Peshawar and was scheduled to reach the Uzbek city Bukhara. Conflicting reports about the fate of the six-member crew were doing the rounds this week.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on Thursday: “Efforts for the recovery are underway and as soon as there is any tangible development we shall inform. As informed by the Afghan side, the crew members are safe. The Afghan authorities have assured that they are making efforts through the elders in the area for recovery of all the crew members. The ministry will continue its efforts for an early and safe recovery of the crew members.”
At this stage, the ministry was no longer talking about the Taliban but rather ‘tribal elders’.
The News learnt on good authority that negotiations which continued on Wednesday between Pakistan and ‘others’, gave Islamabad good room for optimism indicating that talks were in the final stages.
Unconfirmed reports on Thursday spoke of “The six crew members of Punjab government helicopter which crashlanded in Afghanistan’s Logar province have been recovered and shifted to Pakistan safely quoting sources saying that the crew members were handed over to the Pakistani authorities in Chitral on Thursday.”
Since the day of the crash, Pakistan had been in touch with Afghan and American authorities, both at the diplomatic and military level, but nothing was made public.
Even DG ISPR was rather quiet and did not tweet any updates as to whether all the six crew members were alive or not and whether they had been returned to Pakistan.
The DG ISPR last tweeted on August 6 on this issue when he said: “Rumours being spread about identity of various crew members of the Punjab Govt heli that crash landed in Lugar province, Afgn on Friday. None of hostage related to the COAS. Rumours absolutely baseless. Hostages Lives very precious, all efforts being made 4 their safe, early return”.
The DG had earlier tweeted that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had assured all possible assistance.
The COAS had also asked help from commander RSM in Afghanistan who had assured all possible help.
APP adds: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday said by the grace of Allah Almighty and prayers of the nation, the crew of Mi-17 helicopter had returned safely from Afghanistan.
The chief minister congratulated the helicopter crew and their families on their safe return.
He also thanked the federal institutions concerned for their efforts and timely steps for the recovery of the helicopter crew.