Pakistan helicopter crash kills 13

A Pakistani army helicopter has crashed into mountains in the north-west of the country, killing 13 people, an army spokesman said.

The MI-17 helicopter was on a flight from Rawalpindi to the North Waziristan tribal area when it went down.

Army spokesman, Major-General Shaukat Sultan, said three officers and 10 soldiers had died.

"It is an accident, but we are trying to find out details," General Sultan told Reuters.

Restive border

The helicopter went down near the town of Karak in North-West Frontier Province as it flew from Rawalpindi to Bannu.

The army said it received a final message from the pilot saying he was trying to land because of technical fault.

Naseer Mohammed, a police official in Karak, said all the bodies had now been recovered.

Thousands of Pakistani soldiers have been moved in recent months to North and South Waziristan, autonomous tribal areas where security forces and militants have been fighting.

Last year, a Pakistani army helicopter crashed into mountains in the north of the country, also killing 13 people.

And the commander of Pakistan's air force, Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, was killed along with his wife and a number of officials when their Fokker-27 aircraft crashed in the north-west also last year.