Ms.
Maha Mussadaq is a Journalist/News Reporter, presently working at one
of the well known Pakistani news papers, The Express Tribune. On May
9th she tweeted, “ Finally back
home. Still processing what I have seen&heard.We went with smiles
& returned with tears. #Naltar #NaltarCrash #NaltarIncident. What
was that where she went in smiles and returned with tears?
It appears that she was part of the group who was supposed to be taken to Naltar valley in Gilgit-Baltistan area, belonging to India but currently under occupation of Pakistan. From her detailed report, it can be seen that she was one of the 57-member delegation, that had gathered at the Nur Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi, for departure to Gilgit city. The whole operation and its purpose was shrouded in mystery as the delegates were told that the trip, sponsored by the Foreign Office, was mainly for tourism purposes and some high-level meetings were also part of the agenda, including a meeting with the Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister. The delegation after arrival at Gilgit was told that their destination would be Naltar.
Wikipedia
describes Naltar as being 40 km (25 mi) from Gilgit and is a
forested (pine) village known for its wildlife and magnificent
mountain scenery. Pakistan Military has significant presence in
Naltar with Pakistan army signal corps (SCO special communication
organization) and Air Force having their bases there. In the vicinity
of Naltar, there are mountain slopes that are almost ideal for
skiing. 'Ski Federation of Pakistan' has set up ski lifts here for
tourists.
Even
though, the delegation was not told about the purpose of the trip,
the real purpose of the trip was to attend a public ceremony to
inaugurate the newly installed chair-lift at the ski resort by the
Pakistani Prime minister himself.
Unfortunately,
things were not going as planned from the word go, as Ms. Maha
Mussadaq was told that they would now be flying to Naltar in three
military helicopters instead of four as planned earlier, owing to
technical issues in one of them. The delegation, that included
foreign envoys and their families, was divided in four groups and
Ms. Maha was part of the last group, which had to wait for the first
helicopter to return after dropping the first group of passengers at
the destination. By the time she left Gilgit, all other groups had
already departed.
Within
minutes, Ms. Maha, saw a massive fire on the ground from her
helicopter. A sign on the ground, where the fire has occurred, read
out: Army Public School. She reports that even the Swiss ambassador,
seated next to her having remarked, “Did a fire break out in a
school?” She also saw villagers running towards the fire. Almost
immediately the pilot told the delegation that the trip is aborted
and they are returning to Gilgit. Only after she was taken to a hotel
in Gilgit, she found out the reason of the fire. It so happened, that
the third helicopter that had left only minutes before Ms.Mahi's
helicopter, had crashed. Six people that included Philippines and
Norway Ambassadors to Pakistan, wives of ambassadors from Malaysia
and Indonesia and two officers were killed and 13 others were
injured.
According
to Times of India report; Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was
also to attend a the inauguration ceremony and was in his own plane
on route to Gilgit, when the ''tragic news'' was conveyed to him.
After hearing that news, he returned to Islamabad early, in the wake
of the crash.
Within
hours, the Pakistani Talban issued a statement, claiming they had
shot down the helicopter with an anti-aircraft missile, but their
real target was Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif's aircraft. This was
immediately refuted by Pakistani Army, which said that the MI-17
helicopter made the emergency landing in the northern area of Naltar.
The
matter remains shrouded in considerable mystery and Ms. Maha's
account makes it even more mysterious. According to a report
published on 11th May, by Dailymail of UK, The Taliban
has released a video 'as proof' that they shot down the helicopter
carrying foreign diplomats. It shows masked fighters holding a
rocket launcher. The video claims that their anti-aircraft gun is
almost identical to the one they show in the video. The footage also
includes a written message in Urdu from the Pakistani Taliban
claiming they fired a missile from a distance of 3 kilometers (1.9
miles) to down the helicopter. 'The missile hit the tail rotor,' says
a message at the video's start. A statement issued later from Taliban
said that fighter's missile hit the rotor as the helicopter turned,
saving it from being destroyed in mid-air. It says; “'No matter if
the Pakistani government accepts it or not, it doesn't bother
us,''God willing, we will carry out (more) such attacks.”
It
might be of interest to recollect that on 22nd June 2013, a group of
15 Taliban terrorists wearing uniforms of 'Gilgit Scouts,' a unit of
Pakistani army stationed in Gilgit, had abducted two local guides at
'Fairy Meadows' a base camp in the Diamer district of
Gilgit-Baltistan, and had later killed 9 or 10 foreign climbers
including 2 Chinese, one American and six Ukrainian nationals.
The
Pakistani army as well as Pakistani media continue to refute Taliban
claims and say that that technical failure was the cause the crash
and dismiss Taliban claim being opportunistic. Perhaps we shall
never know the truth, for the simple reason that if by chance Taliban
claims turn out to be true, it would raise immediate concern and
alarm about security scenario in Gilgit, which happens to be far away
from the turbulent northwest of Pakistan, where Taliban has its
stronghold.
13th
May 2015
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