Pro-Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for shooting down a Pakistani military helicopter in a tribal area near the Afghan border, but Islamabad has denied the report.

Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, the deputy chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, said that militants had shot down the Mi-17 transport helicopter in the Bajaur district, which borders Afghanistan.

However, the Pakistani military said in a statement that the helicopter crash-landed due to a technical fault.

"Six soldiers embraced martyrdom. The pilots of the helicopter were injured but are safe and out of danger," the military statement read.

The helicopter was on a routine supply mission to the border areas of Bajaur.

The Pakistani army launched a major operation against pro-Taliban militants in Bajaur in August 2008, but the unrest has continued.

JR/SS/HGL