A helicopter that was carrying, among others, Romania’s Ambassador to Pakistan, crashed after being allegedly downed by Pakistani Taliban. Six of the people on board died. Romanian Ambassador Emilian Ion survived, with minor injuries.

The Norwegian and Philippines Ambassadors to Pakistan both died in the crash, according to international media. The wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian Ambassadors also died, along with the two helicopter pilots. Several others were injured, including the Polish and the Dutch Ambassadors to Islamabad.  They were all on their way to inaugurate a chair-lift project at a ski resort in the Naltar Valley. The official convoy was made of three helicopters.

International media say the Pakistani Prime Minister, who was riding in the same helicopter with the foreign ambassadors, was likely the target of the Taliban helicopter downing.

The helicopter was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile, killing pilots and many foreign ambassadors," an Urdu-language statement emailed by their main spokesman Muhammad Khorasani said, quoted by AFP.

editor@romania-insider.com