State funeral for former air chief Asghar Khan held at Nur Khan Airbase

He will be laid to rest in his native village Nawasheha in Abbottabad district

Funeral prayers for former air chief Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan were held at the Nur Khan Airbase Islamabad on Saturday.

The funeral was attended by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Zubair Mehmood Hayat, services chiefs, serving and former armed forces personnel and other senior officials, Express News reported.

Asghar Khan passed away on Friday at the age 97.

He will be laid to rest in his native village Nawanshehr in Abbottabad district.

Asghar was born in Jammu and Kashmir in 1921. After completing his education at Aitcheson College, Lahore, he joined Royal Indian Air Force in December 1940. He was a World War II veteran fighter pilot and served in Burma.

He served as the first Commandant of Royal Pakistan Air Force College, Risalpur after 1947.

At the age of 36, he became the youngest-ever Pakistani Commander-in-Chief of PAF in July 1957. He also served as president of Pakistan International Airlines and founded Tehreek-i-Istaqlal in 1970 that merged with the PTI in 2012.

He earned a lot of military and civil honours which includes Sitara-i-Pakistan, Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Hilal-e-Jurat and Hilal-e-Shujat.