Officials have confirmed that a military helicopter crashed this morning in Anar Dara district of Farah province.

According to 207 Zafar Military Corps spokesman Najibullah Najibi, two choppers had been flying together when the one crashed.  

Najibi said at least 20 people were on board the chopper at the time of the crash including Farah provincial council members and Zafar Military Corps officials.

Najibi said there were no survivors. 

“This morning, the Defense Ministry’s helicopter which was between Anar Dara district in Farah and Shindand district in Herat, crash landed due to technical problems, in which the crew have been martyred. The head of Farah provincial council and the 207 Zafar Corps deputy were also among those on board,” the government’s media center said in a statement.

The statement said that a delegation has been appointed to probe the incident.

Noorulhaq Khaliqi, a spokesman for the ground forces unit of the corps, confirmed that Farid Bakhtawar, head of Farah Provincial Council had been on board along with a member of the council, Jamila Amini, and Nematullah Khalil, the deputy commander in chief of 207 Zafar Military Corps.

President Ashraf Ghani has sent his condolences to the families of those killed in the helicopter crash in Farah.
 
Ghani said in a statement that the 207 Zafar Corps deputy Brig. Gen. Nematullah Khalil, head of Farah Provincial Council Farid Bakhtawar, member of the council Jamila Amini, and the pilot Colonel Mohammad Arif and others who lost their lives in the incident were the “real sons of this soil”.

Farah governor Ahmad Shoaib Sabit put the death toll however at 25. He also said the helicopter crashed due to bad weather. Earlier reports indicated it had crashed in to a mountain.  

“The helicopter which was on its way from Anar Dara district in Farah to Shindand district in Herat crashed due to bad weather and 25 of our countrymen were martyred,” he said.