RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: A Pakistan army aviation helicopter crashed at Siachen, resulting in the martyrdom of both pilots.
In a statement on Monday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that in the crash, both pilots Major Irfan Bercha and Major Raja Zeeshan Jahanzeb embraced Shahadat.
The ISPR said that the search & rescue helicopters and army troops reached the incident site.
Earlier in a tweet, the Director-General ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar paid tribute to Major Shabbir Sharif Shaheed Nishan-e-Haider, whose 50th martyrdom anniversary is being observed today, for his heroic action at Sulemanki Sector in the 1971 war.
The director-general ISPR said that the supreme sacrifice of Major Shabbir Sharif reminds us that no cause is nobler than defence of the motherland.
During the Indo-Pak war of 1971, Major Shabbir Sharif being a company commander valiantly defended high ground near Sulemanki Headworks against a company of the Assam Regiment supported by a squadron of tanks.
Major Shabbir Sharif was awarded Pakistan’s highest military award-Nishan-e-Haider for his valour and bravery during the war. He was also a recipient of Sitara-e-Jurat in 1965.