In a historic first, K-P girl selected to become PAF fighter pilot

Kainat Junaid tops GD Pilot test, set to join her father Squadron Leader Ahmed Junaid at PAF

PESHAWAR: Kainat Junaid has become the first woman from Khyber-Pakthunkhwa (K-P) to have been selected for fighter pilot training in Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

Hailing from Lower Dir’s Balambat area, Kainat not only secured the top position in PAF’s test for GD Pilot, but has also become Pakistan’s first female fighter pilot to serve the country alongside her father.

Kainat’s father Squadron Leader Ahmed Junaid said his longstanding desire of watching his daughter become a fighter pilot has been fulfilled.

“I am so proud of my daughter… she is inspired by Marium Mukhtar, the first female pilot of Pakistan Air Force who sacrificed her life in the line of duty and embraced martyrdom,” he added.

Flying Officer Marium Mukhtiar was a fighter pilot in PAF. She died after a PAF FT-7PG aircraft crashed near Kundian in Mianwali district on November 24, 2015.

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Kainat, who has always been an exceptional student, cleared her matric examination by obtaining 1030 marks from PAF College Badaber and aced her FSC exams by obtaining 937 marks from Jinnah College, Peshawar.

Squadron Leader Junaid has himself served the force as a fighter pilot and fully understands the challenges his daughter faces.

The PAF started inducting women pilots in 2006.