Peshawar: A Pakistan Army helicopter crashed on Wednesday in northwestern Pakistan, killing three generals and five other soldiers, the military said.
The aircraft went down in South Waziristan, a rugged tribal region along the border with Afghanistan, top army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said.
The area has been the scene of intense fighting between Pakistani forces and Islamic militants, but Abbas said initial reports indicated the crash occurred due to "a technical fault in the helicopter."
All the dead were Pakistanis and included Major General Javed Sultan, the top military commander for South Waziristan, Abbas said on Pakistan's Aaj TV.
A military statement said the other victims included two Brigadiers, a Lieutenant Colonel, three Captains and an enlisted man.
Abbas said the helicopter crashed near the road that links Wana, South Waziristan's main town, with Jandola, another town in the area.
Pakistan - a close ally of the US in its war on terrorism - has deployed thousands of troops to South Waziristan, where security forces have fought intense battles with militants in recent weeks.
Security officials have said that Arab, Central Asian and Afghan militants - allegedly linked with al-Qaeda and the Taliban - operate in the region.
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