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| Diplomatic silence over Naltar crash | |
By Manzoor Ahmed
By any reckoning, the world is witnessing a stiff diplomatic silence over the helicopter crash in Pakistan’s Naltar Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan, which killed two foreign envoys and wives of two others. Pakistan is embarrassed, and the governments of the crash victims want to stay cautious and quiet for the sake good relations.
In any case, it does not help the official line of the crash taking place due to a “technical failure” problem and give credence of the claim by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that its men shot down the helicopter from a distance of three kilometer and that its ‘real’ target was Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who was to host the diplomats and their spouses as part of the PR exercise to boost tourism in tribal areas.
The video the Taliban released and obtained by the Associated Press (AP) shows vivid details of a surface-to-air missile it has recently developed, claiming that as similar wapon was used to target the helicopter on May 8.
"The missile hit the tail rotor," a written message in Urdu says at the video's start.
The crash killed the ambassadors to Pakistan from the Philippines and Norway and the wives of the ambassadors from Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as three Pakistani crew members. Twelve passengers, many of them diplomats, were injured.
A later Taliban statement Sunday (May 10) said fighters' missile hit the rotor as the helicopter turned, saving it from being destroyed in mid-air. "No matter if the Pakistani government accepts it or not, it doesn't bother us," the statement said. "God willing, we will carry out (more) such attacks."
The Pakistan Government, especially the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Air Force, have gone into extensive media management. Pakistan’s foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said the helicopter crashed after its engine failed.
The spokesperson of the US Government in Washington said there was “no reason to doubt” the official Pakistani version. That still leaves room for doubts.
While commending the “somberness and dignity” with which the international community, especially governments of diplomats who fell victim, reacted, Dawn newspaper has editorially called for ‘transparency’ in the investigations to end any speculation because Pakistan “needs to answer many questions.”
It has called for not –prejudging the probe results that is being carried out by a team of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). However, the PAF Chief has “firmly ruled out” any sabotage. PAF spokesman Group Captain S M Ali also strongly ruled out the possibility of any terrorist act behind the crash.
“Perhaps, though, in the determination to refute TTP propaganda, the authorities here overstepped the mark. As the global experience of aviation crashes suggests, it is almost impossible to immediately and authoritatively identify the cause of an accident — irrespective of how many witnesses there are on the ground or survivors on-board.
“To claim a technical malfunction of some sort, as several officials did on Friday, is to prejudge the source of the accident,” the editorial observed, adding: “Answers will only be forthcoming once the Pakistan Air Force inquiry board meets and begins the search for answers. That is the stage at which the preference for secrecy by the state ought to be resisted.
“The public here deserves to know the full truth, as do the families and governments of the countries affected by the crash. A thorough investigation followed by full disclosure is extremely rare in Pakistan — but that is the only way for systems to improve, and accountability, if necessary, to be pursued,” the newspaper said.
The Naltar Valley incident comes nearly three decades after the then US ambassador to Pakistan, Arnold Raphel, died along with President Zia-ul-Haq and several top Pakistan military officers when a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft crashed in the Punjab province in mysterious circumstances.
The cause of the crash was never officially established though various theories have suggested that the aircraft was brought down by explosives or poison gas hidden in a case of mangoes that was loaded into the C-130 shortly before it took off.
(Opinions expressed in write-ups/articles/Letters are the sole responsibility of the authors and they may not represent the Scoop News)
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