( dpa ) - A Pakistani Army helicopter crashed Wednesday in the country's lawless northwest tribal areas, killing at least eight people aboard including a senior general, local reports said.
Among the dead was Major-General Javed Sultan, a senior commander based in Kohat, six other officers and one enlisted man, DawnNews TV reported.
Major-General Athar Abbas, the chief Army spokesman, told DawnNews that the chopper went down in the South Waziristan district of the North-West Frontier Province due to a technical fault.
Around 100,000 Pakistani Army soldiers and paramilitary troops have been deployed to South Waziristan and other tribal districts to battle armed Islamic militants including the Taliban and al-Qaeda, who US intelligence officials say have regrouped and are training recruits to carry out attacks in America.