The Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed a military helicopter has crashed, saying the helicopter was in a training flight in the southern province of Kandahar.
Earlier, a video of the crash was mak-ing the rounds on social media. Some social media users said that the heli-copter was evacuating people stuck in the flood in the Maiwand district of Kandahar.
A spokesman for the Ministry of De-fense, Inayatullah Khwarazmi, said the crash was due to technical problems and two pilots were injured.
“The helicopter crashed and is de-stroyed. Our pilots are injured but we don’t have fatalities. One of the pilots is in stable condition, another pilot is in critical condition,” he said.
The cost of an MD-530 helicopter is nearly one million dollars. The MD-530 is provided with surveillance cam-eras and machine guns.
Military veterans called on the Islamic Emirate to appoint former pilots and maintenance people to operate the air-craft.
“The improper use of this equipment is a crime, in fact. We as a country may not be able to purchase the current equipment due to financial problems,” said Hekmatullah Hekmat, a military veteran.
“If the military equipment is used by inexperienced people, it (equipment) will be destroyed,” said Sadeq Shin-wari, a military analyst.
The citizens said that military equip-ment is national property and should be protected.
“We call on the Islamic Emirate to pay serious attention to this issue,” said Sahil, another resident.
