All seven on board Qatar military helicopter killed in crash

Four members of the Qatari armed forces and three Turkish nationals die after chopper crashes due to technical snag.

All seven on board a Qatari military ⁠helicopter, including three Turkish nationals, have been killed in a crash in the Gulf state’s territorial waters, authorities ⁠said.

The Qatari and Turkish defence ministries on Sunday said the helicopter had crashed after suffering a ‌technical malfunction, which the Qatari ministry said was during “routine duty”.

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Four of those killed were Qatari armed forces personnel, one was from the Qatar-Turkey ⁠joint forces and ⁠two were technicians, the Turkish and Qatari defence ministries said.

According to Qatar’s Defence Ministry, the deceased were identified as pilot Captain Mubarak Salem Daway al-Marri, Sergeant Fahad Hadi Ghanem al-Khayarin, Corporal Mohammed Maher Mohammed and Captain Saeed Nasser Samekh (all from Qatar Armed Forces); Major Sinan Tastekin (Qatar-Turkiye Joint Forces), and Turkish civilian collaborators Suleiman Cemra Kahraman and Ismail Anas Can.

The ministry extended “its sincere condolences” to the families of the victims.

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence ‌also said in a statement that one of its ⁠soldiers and two personnel from Turkish defence ⁠firm Aselsan were killed ⁠in the helicopter crash, adding the aircraft had crashed due to a technical issue during ⁠a training flight.

The statement added that Qatari authorities would carry out inspections ‌to determine the exact cause of ‌the ‌crash.

No immediate information was available on the cause beyond the technical malfunction, and there was no indication that the crash was the result of hostile action.

Repeated attacks

The incident occurred amid heightened regional tensions.

Qatar has faced repeated strikes since the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28, with the Gulf country intercepting hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles.

Earlier this week, Iranian attacks on the Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar’s main natural gas facility, caused “significant damage”.

Iranian attacks ‌have knocked out 17 percent of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, causing an estimated $20bn loss in annual revenue, Saad al-Kaabi, QatarEnergy’s CEO and state minister for energy affairs, told the Reuters news agency on Thursday.

He said two of Qatar’s 14 LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquids (GTL) facilities were damaged in the unprecedented strikes.