ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday offered Lt. Gen. Sarfaraz Ali’s funeral prayers after he died in a helicopter crash earlier this week while overseeing flood relief operations in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province.
Ali, commander XII Corps, was accompanied by five other people when his helicopter lost contact with the air traffic control on Monday.
After hours of search in Lasbela district, the helicopter’s wreckage was found on Tuesday afternoon. The army issued a statement soon after that, saying the crash happened due to bad weather and resulted in the death of all six people on board.
“COAS [Chief of Army Staff] attended Namaz-e-Janaza [funeral prayers] of Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali Shaheed and Brigadier Muhammad Khalid Shaheed at Quetta Garrison,” the military’s media wing, ISPR, said.
The funeral was also attended by the governor and chief minister of Balochistan along with provincial ministers and a large number of civil and military officials.
“Later, COAS visited families of shaheed Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali and Brig Muhammad Khalid who embraced shahadat in Lasbela heli crash and family of Lieutenant Colonel Laiq Baig Mirza Shaheed who embraced shahadat at Ziarat,” the ISPR added.
The ISRP said the bodies of Lt. Gen. Ali and Brig. Khalid were later shifted to Rawalpindi, adding their funeral prayers would also be offered at the Army Graveyard in Rawalpindi where they would be buried with full military honor.
Other soldiers who died in the crash were buried in their native towns in the presence of senior serving and retired army officers and people from all walks of life, the ISPR said.
