ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office has confirmed that the crew of a Punjab government helicopter that crash-landed in Afghanistan last week is safe and efforts for its rescue are continuing.

“As informed by the Afghan side, the crew members are safe,” FO spokesman Nafees Zakaria said at his weekly media briefing on Thursday.

The FO statement about the well-being of the crew follows a similar claim by the Russian foreign ministry which said: “It is reassuring that, according to the majority of sources, the lives of the hostages are not in danger.”

The helicopter made an emergency landing in a Taliban-controlled district of Logar province on Aug 4 while flying to Russia for maintenance and seven crew members, including a Russian navigator, were taken hostage by a group of militants. Both Russian and Pakistani governments have been making efforts for the release of the hostages.

The Afghan government initiated an operation for identification of the captors and rescue of the hostages.

“Efforts for the recovery are under way and as soon as there is any tangible development we shall inform,” Mr Zakaria said in a statement issued in the evening after media speculation about the release of the captives.

At the media briefing, he said the Afghan government was trying to secure their release with the help of elders of the area.

In reply to a question about an Afghan inquiry into whether the clearance obtained by Pakistani authorities was for the same helicopter that made emergency landing, the spokesman said the Mi-17 helicopter bearing tail number APBGX had been granted flight clearance for the journey by the Afghan air control authorities as per usual procedure.

“Our ambassador in Kabul is in touch with the Afghan National Security Adviser and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard,” he said, adding that President Ashraf Ghani’s tirades against Pakistan were unfortunate.

“We have been trying our best to facilitate peace in Afghanistan and have welcomed, participated in and encouraged all such efforts. I can only say that these statements, wherever they are coming from, whatever their composition and whatever their tone may be or whether they may be resembling the statements given by some other countries, we are seriously concerned about the situation in Afghanistan and working seriously towards peace in Afghanistan,” the spokesman observed.

Quetta incident

Responding to a question about Indian involvement in the Quetta hospital bombing, Mr Zakaria said there were chances of foreign elements using their local contacts for carrying out the subversive activity.

“Investigations are under way,” he said and reminded that Indian intelligence agencies have remained involved in subversive and terrorist activities in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan and Karachi.

He also pointed to the confessional statement given by captured RAW officer Kulbhushan Jadhav in which he admitted that he had worked with local militants and terrorist groups for causing unrest and carrying out terrorist activities.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2016