ISLAMABAD, Nov 2: The US military said it was resuming helicopter relief flights in Pakistan’s earthquake zone on Wednesday, even though it believed a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at one of the aircraft the previous day.
The Pakistani army called Tuesday’s incident close to Chakothi, a town near the border with held Kashmir, a misunderstanding caused by the US helicopter crew mistaking engineers blasting a damaged road for attackers.
Major Don Langley, a spokesman for the US military’s Disaster Assistance Centre in Pakistan, said US and Pakistani officials were still discussing the incident.
“For now we still believe the helicopter was fired on by an RPG,” he said. “There is still a lot about the situation we are trying to pin down right now.”
Langley said there were no plans to curtail relief flights.
“Flights will continue today as scheduled. This is a very important mission and we will continue to make sure it happens.”
On Wednesday morning, the 24 US military helicopters taking part in the relief operation were unable to fly into the quake zone because of poor visibility caused by dusty haze and low cloud but it was hoped this would clear by afternoon, he said.
Helicopters from several countries, including Britain and Japan, as well as some chartered by the United Nations and the Red Cross are involved in relief operation alongside the Pakistani military.
The US Central Command said the CH-47 Chinook helicopter was not hit in Tuesday’s incident and returned safely with its crew to Chaklala air base at Rawalpindi, the garrison town neighbouring Islamabad.—Reuters
