An American helicopter involved in earthquake relief efforts in Pakistan likely did not come under fire this month as the U.S. military initially stated, Reuters quoted the head of the U.S. relief force as saying on Thursday. "We didn't think it was that kind of event when we reviewed the facts, and so we're continuing to fly everywhere," Navy Rear Adm. Michael LeFever, commander of the U.S. Disaster Assistance Center in Pakistan, told reporters at the Pentagon by telephone from Islamabad. The U.S. military's Central Command said on Nov. 1 that an Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter "is believed to have been fired upon by a rocket-propelled grenade" close to Chakothi, a town near the border with Indian-administered Kashmir. Central Command said the Chinook was not hit and returned safely with its crew to Chaklala air base at Rawalpindi, the garrison town neighboring Islamabad. But Pakistani officials immediately cast doubt on whether the helicopter had come under fire, saying the incident was merely engineers blasting a damaged road in the area. "In fact, there was road-clearing work being done in that area where they were blowing boulders and splitting boulders," LeFever said. Asked whether he was satisfied the helicopter had not come under fire, LeFever said, "Yes, well, I would probably say that," although "the evidence was probably a little bit inconclusive." --SP 2248 Local Time 1948 GMT
