PESHAWAR: Taliban militants Saturday claimed responsibility for a military helicopter crash that killed 41 people in the rugged tribal area in the country's north.

'We shot down the helicopter,' a spokesman for Taliban insurgents based in the nearby Darra Adam Khel region said in a telephone call to AFP.

The spokesman identifying himself as Muhammad said it was in retaliation for the Pakistani military operation in South Waziristan, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold.

A military spokesman rejected the claim, reiterating Saturday that the helicopter had crashed due to a 'technical fault.'

'Taliban militants frequently make false claims,' he added.

Forty-one security personnel on board a military transport helicopter were killed when it crashed in Chapri Ferozkhel area on the border of Khyber and Orakzai tribal regions on Friday afternoon, credible sources said.

According to officials, the helicopter crashed because of some technical fault.

Those killed included 19 personnel of the paramilitary Frontier Crops, 18 regulars from the army and four crew members, the sources said. However, officials said that 26 personnel had been killed.

According to the sources, most of the personnel on board were proceeding on leave.

The army spokesman was not available for comment, but a government official said the Russian-made M-17 transport helicopter had crashed in a mountainous area, some 20km from Peshawar, on the border between Khyber and Orakzai because of some technical fault.

‘All those on board the helicopter have been killed,’ the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release information to the media.

He said that paramilitary forces had cordoned off the area and efforts were being made to retrieve the bodies. ‘The area is remote and inaccessible.’

The sources said that pilots of the ill-fated helicopter had requested for emergency landing before the crash. ‘The copter might have come down because of overloading,’ they said.

The government official said the actual cause of the crash would be determined after a detailed examination of the wreckage. ‘It is a lengthy exercise.’

Witnesses said the helicopter was flying at a low altitude in an area of high mountains. It was going to Peshawar from Parachinar, the headquarters of Kurram Agency.

The official said: ‘The weather was bad and the copter was flying low. It could either be because of the bad weather or excess weight. But nothing can be said with certainty until we retrieve the wreckage.’

He said that militants had 12.7mm machine-guns which could easily hit helicopters flying at low altitude. ‘Combat and transport helicopters usually fly high to avoid fire from the ground.’

He said that paramilitary forces and helicopters had been sent to the area to retrieve the bodies and the wreckage.

The official said that helicopters had to fire some warning shots to keep the locals away from the crash site. ‘The area is infested with militants, so all precautionary measures are being taken to secure the area.’