Karachi: A US military cargo aircraft was forced to land in Karachi at the Jinnah International Airport on the orders of the Pakistan Air Force, sources said on Wednesday. According to the sources, the Russian-made plane was forced to land in Karachi on the basis of intelligence information provided by the Air Intelligence. Geo TV reported that the plane is used for Nato supplies. The plane took off from Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan and was flying towards Al-Makhtum Airport in Dubai. The crew of the aircraft was being interrogated till the filing of this report. Pakistan suspended Nato supplies after a cross border US raid on its check-posts in Mohmand Agency November last year that killed two dozen Pakistani troops. Islamabad had linked the resumption of Nato supplies with unconditional US public apology over the raid. The unpopular government in Islamabad seems reluctant to reopen Nato supply routes amid anti-American sentiments prevailing in the country ahead of next general election. In the meantime, President Obama is also facing the same process this November and doesn’t want to tender an apology after he tendered one over the desecration of the Holy Quran at the hands of US soldiers in Afghanistan.
The plane would probably be stripped. As the saying goes "Tore up from the floor up". Then seized for entering the airspace without permission. Quite possibly followed by demands to make more concessions which GHQ and Parliament will happily oblige to, and still not get the plane back.
But then again miracles do happen, so who knows. Maybe just seizure of the plane.
The gap in the story is that the US Air Force does not operate any Russian-made planes..... and neither do any of the NATO countries operating in Afghanistan.
The gap in the story is that the US Air Force does not operate any Russian-made planes..... and neither do any of the NATO countries operating in Afghanistan.
they are at least in Afghanistan, just a quick Google query will reveal ....
The gap in the story is that the US Air Force does not operate any Russian-made planes..... and neither do any of the NATO countries operating in Afghanistan.
True, but US does occasionally lease the larger Russian Antonovs in order to transport extra large stuff. Additionally, there are a few privately owned Russian airlines operating out of the UAE, that provide services to places where no other airline tends to venture. And these airlines, while advertised as commercial passenger flights, routinely transport military hardware for the US and NATO to Afghanistan and Iraq.
I suspect this was a commercial plane that was forced down to check whether it was carrying any contraband or not (which they routinely do)
