Funeral prayers held for Army men martyred in Gilgit crash

GILGIT: The funeral prayers for three members of the Pakistan Army who were killed in the Gilgit helicopter crash were held on Saturday.

Major Altamash, Major Faisal and Suberdar Zakir were martyred when a MI-17 with foreign diplomats on board crashed in the Naltar Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan. The ambassadors of Norway and Philippines and wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors were also among the seven people killed.

The funeral prayers were held at the Gilgit helipad and attended by top military officials.

Major Faisal belonged to the Chota Lahor Tehsil in Swabi. His family said that they had received the sad news from Rawalpindi while his body had not reached the village.

Major Faisal, son of Abdul Wakeel, got married about two years back. He is survived by a wife and a daughter. The villagers went to his residence for offering condolences when they came to know about his death.

The body of Major Altamash will be brought to Peshawar and then shifted to his ancestral village in Behzadi Chakkarkot in Kohat for burial, family sources said.

Major Altamash was the son of Dr Riaz Ahmad, who works at a private health facility in Peshawar. The family has settled in Peshawar. He left behind a widow and a seven-year old son. Major Altamash had got commission in the Pakistan Army in 2002