No survivors were reported after an Mi-17 helicopter of Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Muzaffarabad on Wednesday during take-off “due to a technical fault”, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. Rescue and recovery teams immediately reached the crash site. “All personnel on board embraced martyrdom. There were no survivors,” the ISPR said in a statement. “A board of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the exact technical cause of the accident,” the military’s media affairs wing said. Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, along with all ranks of the army, expressed “deep grief over the tragic loss of precious lives and extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families”, the ISPR said. Smoke billows after a Pakistan Army Aviation Mi-17 helicopter crashed near Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir on June 10, 2026. — Reuters The army’s aviation wing began operating Russian-made Mi-17 transport helicopters in the late 1990s. Mi-17s are considere...
MUZAFFARABAD: Shops and markets were largely shut and vehicular traffic remained minimal in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), on Tuesday as the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) observed a strike. Meanwhile, AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore urged a return to the negotiating table in a bid to end the tensions that have gripped the region over the past few days. During the day, Muzaffarabad’s streets were deserted, with hardly any vehicles on the roads. Riot police and paramilitary personnel remained deployed in the city. However, no demonstrations were witnessed in the capital. Meanwhile, reports from Mirpur said that hundreds of people had gathered in the town’s Quaid-i-Azam stadium. “Shops are closed here and traffic is off the roads,” local journalist Sajjad Jarral told Dawn by telephone. Witnesses in Kotli said that while the area observed a complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike, hundreds of people led by JAAC core member Imtiaz Aslam were heading to...