ISLAMABAD:
A top military commander was shot in the thigh on Wednesday when his helicopter came under fire.
The attack took place near Swat valley, where troops fought off a Taliban insurgency two years ago. Officials said the general was taking an aerial view of troop deployment.
Major General Javed Iqbal, one of the country’s top commanders in the northwest, was airborne when gunfire from the ground hit his helicopter in the mountainous village of Nusrat Darra in Upper Dir. Security officials had initially said the helicopter was hit in Swat.
“The helicopter is safe. The commander was slightly injured. There was no loss of life,” a senior security official told AFP. Another senior security official in Swat said two bullets hit the helicopter but that it landed safely. A third security official told AFP that a bullet hit the general’s right thigh and he was taken to a military hospital in Rawalpindi.
There was no claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s incident. However, suspicion is likely to be drawn towards militant groups.
In 2009, 30,000 Pakistani troops went into battle against Taliban fighters who for two years had terrorised people with a campaign of beheadings, violence and attacks on girls’ schools in Swat and neighbouring districts.
The army declared that the region was back under control in July of that year and said the rebels had all either been killed or captured, or had fled.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2011.
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@saay: If you are a Pakistani i apologize if i have hurt you. i understand that no citizen would like such comment about his/her country. But setting aside emotions i would like to emphasize that it would not have been possible for the US to do all that you have referred as history if Pakistan would not have actively supported them. US must have come with a proposal. Pakistani government of the day must have agreed to comply and do the fighting for the US. US just outsourced the war to Pakistan and the deal was US tacit support for Pakistan using same tactics in kashmir. Pakistan later went even further an tried to develop Afghanistan as a strategic depth against India. only after 9/11 US did a policy U-turn and Pakistan got exposed. You cannot have such design and later cry foul when they are returned back on you as reply. If you show power you got to be ready to see some in return and there are so many powerful countries surrounding Pakistan. So i think the game plan was wrong. Pakistani leadership was short-sighted and not intelligent enough. They fell into the trap and now Pakistan is like hell. that is what i think is the history.
mr. straight_talk
search history. pakistan did not start this it was america who start this and now we are accused of doing all this its not true dont follow the words by american but make your own search and then say something thanx
US/Indian proxies have increased attacks on Pakistan since Kabul attack.
General wounded! Perhaps now there will be some renewed imputus to take on the terrorists
Strategic assets are completely out of control.