Islamabad, April 26, IRNA – A foreign military cargo aircraft was forced to land at the Karachi airport after information was received that it is carrying military equipment and to fly without permission over the country, local media reported.
The plane, which was flying from the US-controlled Bagram airbase in Afghanistan to the United Arab Emirate, was asked to land at Karachi after it was found that it did not have clearances from the Pakistan’s Civil Aviation.
Reports said that NATO was using the aircraft for transporting military equipment and had no permission for it.
Pakistani authorities inspected the plane and also questioned its crew, TV channels reported.
Reports quoted civil aviation authorities as saying that the plane had violated Pakistan airspace as there is no permission to any aircraft to use the country’s aircraft for transporting arms.
Pakistan parliament this month approved guidelines for the future relationship with the US and NATO, which recommended to the government that NATO should not be allowed to use airspace and land route for transporting arms to Afghanistan.
Aviation officials at the Karachi airport said that the air headquarters had issued instructions to forced the foreign aircraft to land for inspection.
Pakistan had closed supply line for NATO forces in November a day after the US fighter jets raided Pakistani border posts and killed 24 soldiers.
The supply line has not yet been restored and Pakistanis says they will look at ‘positive response’ from the US to its quest for respecting the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
