Woman killed, two injured in firing at PIA plane near Peshawar airport
The fire shots came from the adjacent Tehkal area side.
PESHAWAR (Web Desk) - One woman passenger was killed and two crew members were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire at a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane while it was landing at the Peshawar airport, Dunya News reported on Wednesday.
The PIA flight PK756, carrying 178 passengers from Saudi Arabia s capital city Riyadh to Peshawar, was fired upon for two minutes before landing at the Bacha Khan International airport late yesterday night.
A woman passenger was killed and two flight stewards identified as Wajid and Ijaz were injured.
Wajid, who sustained bullet injuries in his leg, said the plane was at an altitude of 250 to 300 feet height when gunshot hit the plane at the back side. Luckily Captain Tariq Chaudhry safely landed the plane at the airport and averted a catastrophe.
The fire shots came from the adjacent Tehkal area side, he said.
His colleague flight steward Ijaz received three bullet wounds and shifted to CMH Peshawar and was being operated upon, Wajid said.
Meanwhile, a Peshawar-bound flight coming from Kuala Lumpur was diverted to Lahore airport as PIA authorities immediately suspended flight operations at the airport.
Security forces immediately launched search operations in the suspected areas and arrested more than 100 suspects.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The assault was the second militant strike on a Pakistan airport in recent weeks, after a bloody raid in the southern port city of Karachi that extinguished a largely fruitless peace process with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
