Army helicopter makes emergency landing in eastern Afghanistan

KABUL, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- A chopper of the National Army made emergency landing in the eastern Paktia province on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry has confirmed.

"An Afghan Army MI17 Helicopter made emergency landing minutes after taking off from 203 Military Corps' airport in Gardiz city of Paktia province around 01:00 p.m. local time today," the ministry said in a statement.

"Everyone onboard and on land remained safe, no casualties reported," said the statement.

This is the second army chopper accident in the insurgency-battered Afghanistan in a single day on Wednesday.

Two pilots were killed in a helicopter crash which happened due to technical problem in the western Farah province before noon, according to the Defense Ministry.