Pakistan Taliban releases video of SAM-7; warns more such attacks

The Taliban had claimed responsibility for the downing of the chopper and said premier Nawaz Sharif was their target.

Pakistani Taliban on Sunday released a video showing its militants with a surface-to-air missile which it claimed was used to bring down an army helicopter in the PoK that killed seven people including two ambassadors.

A video released by a jihadist media forum shows at least four masked militants with the surface-to-air missile (SAM-7 B) allegedly used in hitting the Mi-17 that crashed in Naltar valley of Gilgit-Baltisitan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

In a written message in Urdu just at the start of the video, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed that the chopper was turning due to which the missile hit the tail rotor of the helicopter so it did not get destroyed fully in the air.

The message claimed that the missile was fired from a distance of 3 kilometers to down the helicopter on Friday. The Russian SAM-7 Model or SAM-7 B can hit a target up to a distance of 3 kilometres.

The SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based website that monitors extremist groups, also put video on its website. “God willing, we will carry out (more) such attacks,” a Taliban statement said on Sunday.

Norwegian envoy Leif H Larsen and Domingo D Lucenario Jr of the Philippines were killed along with the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, besides two army pilots and a Pakistani crew member after the helicopter crashed.

The Taliban had claimed responsibility for the downing of the chopper and said premier Nawaz Sharif was their target. “The helicopter was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile, killing pilots and many foreign ambassadors,” TTP’s main spokesman Muhammad Khorasani had claimed after the crash.

“A special group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan had prepared a special plan to target Nawaz Sharif during his visit but he survived because he was travelling in another helicopter,” he had said.

Pakistan Army, however, ruled out the possibility of any terrorist or subversive activity in the crash and said the chopper crashed due to a technical fault while landing.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry yesterday rejected the Taliban claim, saying initial probe showed engine failure
caused the mishap.

“No matter if the Pakistani government accepts it or not, it doesn’t bother us,” the Taliban statement said.

Source:: Indian Express