Pakistan Army officer, who captured IAF pilot Abhinandan in 2019, killed
Islamabad, Jun 25 (PTI): An officer of the Pakistan Army's Special Services Group, who had claimed to have captured Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman after his jet was shot down in a dogfight in 2019, was killed in a clash with the Taliban members, according to the army.
Major Syed Moiz Abbas Shah, 37, was killed on Tuesday in a clash with the Taliban members in the Sararogha area of South Waziristan near the Afghan border, according to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army.
Lance Naik Jibran Ullah, 27, was also killed in the same battle, it said.
The army troops killed 11 members belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and wounded seven others in the same operation, the statement said.
Moiz's funeral prayer was offered at Chaklala Garrison, Rawalpindi, and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir attended it.
“Major Syed Moiz Abbas fought bravely in the face of resistance and ultimately laid down his life in the line of duty, upholding the highest traditions of bravery, sacrifice, and patriotism,” the ISPR statement quoted Munir as saying.
His body was flown to his native home town of Chakwal in Punjab where he was laid to rest with full military honours.
He was commissioned into the Pakistani Army in 2011. However, he later became part of the Special Services Group (SSG) and was currently serving in the volatile Waziristan region.
After his death, it turned out that he was the same officer who had captured Abhinandan and saved him from mob violence, local media reported.
An old clip of his interview with Geo TV on social media shows Moiz, who was captain then, giving details of capturing Abhinandan.
The TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of several fighter outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan.
The group, believed to be close to al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases, and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
Pakistan describes TTP as "Fitna al-Khawarij", a reference to a group in earlier Islamic history which was involved in violence.
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IndiGo fight disruptions: Opposition demands statement from government
New Delhi (PTI): The opposition on Monday demanded in the Lok Sabha that the government should inform the country about what it is doing in the wake of the IndiGo flight disruptions and the inconvenience being faced by the people at various airports across the country.
Speaker Om Birla said Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu will give a detailed statement on the matter in the Lower House on Monday or Tuesday.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha soon after the Question Hour, Congress' deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said, "Through you (the Speaker), we request the government that the Civil Aviation Ministry should tell the country through this House that why people in all airports across the country since many days (are facing trouble), there are dialysis patients, people who have weddings in their house, people who want to reach their elderly, there is chaos at the airports."
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"We were told that even people wearing Hawai chappals will travel in airplanes but prices have soared to Rs 20,000, coffee (at airports) is for Rs 250 and planes are delayed. Therefore, the government should tell us what is it doing," he said.
The opposition has been attacking the government over the IndiGo flight disruptions and blaming it for the "unprecedented crisis".
The Congress had earlier claimed that the ongoing IndiGo chaos was not an accident but the direct outcome of the BJP government's "relentless push to manufacture a duopoly in the sector".
Over 250 IndiGo flights were cancelled from Delhi and Bengaluru airports on Monday as the disruptions in the crisis-hit airline's flight operations entered the seventh day, sources said.
