Vigilance at par; US alerts air carriers to avoid Pakistan airspace warning of possible threats from terror groups

Washington, January 3: Alerting and tracking Pakistan’s action on its terror outfits, the United States has always been very intuitive about it. In a latest, the United States on Thursday, warned its air carriers to avoid Pakistan airspace as it may be a risk and warned of a possible threat of attacks on US airlines (commercial and US state carrier) by Pakistan extremist and militant groups.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in its order stated, “Exercise caution during flight operations. There is a risk to US civil aviation operating in the territory and airspace of Pakistan due to extremist/militant activity. There continues to be a risk to US civil aviation from attacks against airports and aircraft, particularly for aircraft on the ground and aircraft operating at low altitudes, including during the arrival and departure phases of flight. The ongoing presence of extremist and militant elements operating in Pakistan poses a continued risk to US Civil aviation.”

The US advisory may be viewed as an endorsement of India's stated position about Pakistan being a terror haven. Most recently, a US report had criticised Pakistan over its failure to limit militant outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). The US State Department's report titled - Country report on terrorism 2018' had said that the Pakistan government did not restrict Taliban and Haqqani Network from operating out of its soil.

Pakistan had, however, refuted the claims and said, “Pakistan is disappointed with assertions made in the US Department of State's Country Report on Terrorism 2018. The report completely overlooks the factual situation on the ground and the tremendous contribution made and sacrifices rendered by Pakistan over the last two decades in the international struggle against terrorism.”