PHOTO: AFP
Bashirum Nisa, a resident of Nowshehra, was travelling to Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport (BKIA) along with three other people to receive her relative in a private vehicle, police sources told The Express Tribune.
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“The vehicle was signalled to stop as it tried to enter an area which has been closed for civilian traffic and when it did not stop a PAF sentry opened fire on it which critically injured the woman,” SHO West Cant Police Dost Muhammad said.
“She was rushed to the Combined Military Hospital but succumbed to her injured before reaching there,” he added. The police officer, however, denied the registration of an FIR in the case.
Security has been beefed up at Peshawar airport following threat alerts specific to the airport in the city.
In January, personnel of the PAF had participated in a mock exercise to deter a possible militant attack on the BKIA. The alerts had been issued by intelligence agencies which warned airport authorities of a possible rocket attack.
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“We received a threat from agencies and have taken it seriously since the airport has come under attack in the past,” a senior airport security official told The Express Tribune, requesting anonymity.
In 2012, Militants belonging to banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan had launched a brazen assault on BKIA, killing four people, wounding dozens more and forcing the city to go in lockdown. The attack on BKIA, which is attached to Peshawar Air Force (PAF) base, was marked by a prolonged exchange of gunfire between militants and army troops.
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