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Pakistani Female Air Force Pilot Killed In Training Accident


A handout image supplied by the Media Wing of the Pakistan Air Force shows Flying Officer Marium Mukhtiar who was killed in a training accident near Mianwali, Pakistan on November 24.
A handout image supplied by the Media Wing of the Pakistan Air Force shows Flying Officer Marium Mukhtiar who was killed in a training accident near Mianwali, Pakistan on November 24.

One of Pakistan's few female air force pilots had been killed in a crash.

The Pakistani military said the accident happened during "routine operational training" near the central town of Mianwali on November 24.

"Squadron Leader Saqib Abbasi and Flying Officer Marium Mukhtiar were on a routine operational training mission when it encountered a serious in-flight emergency during the final stages of the mission," the Air Force said.

Mukhtiar is the first female pilot of the Pakistan air force to be killed while on duty. The air force had 19 women pilots in 2013, the last year for which the figure was immediately available.

The crash is the latest deadly accident to hit Pakistan's military.

In May, a military helicopter carrying diplomats to inspect a tourism project crashed, killing seven people, including the ambassadors of Norway and the Philippines.

Based on reporting by Reuters

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