Rescue and recovery teams were immediately dispatched to the crash site following the incident.

“All personnel on board embraced martyrdom. There were no survivors,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement, as quoted by Dawn.

The military’s media wing added that a board of inquiry has been ordered to determine the exact technical cause of the crash.

In a similar incident in September 2025, at least five personnel were killed when an army helicopter crashed in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district, also attributed to a technical fault.

Two pilots and three personnel onboard a rescue helicopter of the KP government died in August 2025 after it crashed in the Mohmand district due to bad weather.

Violence in PoK

The incident occurred at a time when more than 30 people were killed and around 200 others injured after clashes broke out between protesters and security forces in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), following a government ban on the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a prominent civil society alliance leading campaigns over economic and political grievances in the region.

The violence has triggered international concern, with members of the Kashmiri diaspora staging demonstrations in the United Kingdom and nearly 30 British parliamentarians urging diplomatic intervention amid reports of arrests, communication restrictions and escalating tensions.

Deadly clashes follow JAAC ban

According to police, the unrest intensified after JAAC supporters gathered outside a hospital mortuary where the body of a fellow activist had been taken following an earlier police firing incident.

Authorities said security personnel attempted to disperse the crowd, leading to violent confrontations.