RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Defense Forces, and Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and other senior officials attended funeral prayers on Tuesday, Oct. 13, for two Pakistan Army pilots killed when a training aircraft crashed near Quetta, Balochistan, on Monday, Oct. 12, according to the military’s media wing.
The officers, Major Husnain Shehzad Humayun and Capt. Abdul Samad, died when a Pakistan Army Aviation Mushshak training aircraft went down near Nawan Killi in Quetta district. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said a technical fault caused the crash.
The funeral drew senior political and military leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who gathered to pay their respects to the two officers.
The military did not provide further details about the technical problem or disclose additional information about the circumstances surrounding the accident.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed sorrow over the deaths and extended his condolences to the families of the two pilots.
Prime Minister Sharif also offered his sympathies, prayed for the elevation of the officers’ ranks and asked for strength and patience for their families as they cope with the loss.
The deaths have drawn condolences from the country’s top leadership, highlighting the loss suffered by the military and the families of the two officers.
The latest accident follows other military aviation incidents reported in Pakistan this year. In June, a Pakistan Army Aviation Mi-17 helicopter crashed near Muzaffarabad during takeoff, according to the ISPR. Earlier that month, a Pakistan Air Force aircraft crashed during a routine training flight in Mardan.
The latest crash adds to the military’s aviation accident record this year, although the circumstances of the earlier incidents were separate from Monday’s accident near Quetta.
