ISLAMABAD, Nov 1: A US Army helicopter taking part in earthquake relief efforts may have come under fire on Tuesday, according to the US military, but a Pakistan army spokesman said it was merely engineers blasting a damaged road in the vicinity.
US Central Command said in a statement the CH-47 was not hit and returned safely with its crew to Chaklala air base at Rawalpindi.
It said the Chinook “is believed to have been fired upon by a rocket-propelled grenade”, but did not say who might have fired.
The incident occurred close to Chakothi, a town near the border with held Kashmir, in a region where many militant groups fighting Indian rule operate.
Chakothi has been cut off since the Oct 8 earthquake, and the Pakistani army is working to clear the last few kilometres of road between the border town and Muzaffarabad.
“It was a misunderstanding. A Chinook was flying in an area where engineers were blasting the road and the crew mistook it for firing,” said Pakistan’s army spokesman, Major-General Shaukat Sultan.
He said the US forces had pledged to resume operations from Wednesday after hearing the Army’s preliminary report.
A US military spokesman serving with the disaster relief mission, which involves 900 personnel and 24 helicopters, said the incident over Chakothi would not alter the US commitment.
“Nobody was hurt, nobody was hit,” Captain Bob Newell said. “It’s not going to impact our participation in the relief support. We are going to continue to support the Pakistan army and government, and there is no change in our commitment.”
