Pakistani general hurt in chopper attack
Wed Sep 21, 2011 1:2PM GMT
PressTV - Pakistani general hurt in chopper attack

MP/JR

A Pakistani army official has suffered injuries after unknown militants opened fire on his helicopter in the troubled northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Press TV reported.


Major General Javed Iqbal, the commanding officer in the Swat Valley of northwest Pakistan, was airborne on when gunfire from the ground hit his helicopter in Nusrat Darra village of Upper Dir district - located about six kilometers (3.7 miles) from the border with Afghanistan - on Wednesday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The pilot managed to land the helicopter safely as bullets hit the aircraft.

Local authorities said that the army commander was slightly injured in his right leg. He was shifted to the garrison city of Rawalpindi to receive medical treatment.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Despite an offensive by the Pakistani government against pro-Taliban militants, they have spread their influence in various regions, killing hundreds of people and security forces in Pakistan.

Since late 2009, there has been a surge in militant and bomb attacks in Pakistan.

Pakistan has lost more than 35,000 people in militant attacks and bomb explosions since 2007, according to the Associated Press. Millions more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy across the country.