Citing airport 'security arrangements', PIA postpones first flight to Swat in 17 years

Pakistani International Airlines (PIA) aeroplanes taxi on a runway at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore on March 6, 2007. (AFP/File)
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Updated 23 March 2021
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Citing airport 'security arrangements', PIA postpones first flight to Swat in 17 years

  • Flight operations put on hold for 3-4 weeks because security arrangements to be “beefed up” at Saidu Sharif airport, PIA spokesperson says
  • Last week, PIA announced it would resume flights to Swat’s only airport, closed since 2004 and equipped to handle small ATR-70 planes

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), has postponed a planned first flight to the country’s scenic Swat Valley after nearly 17 years, a spokesperson for the airline said on Tuesday, citing a lack of “security arrangements.”

Taliban militants took over Swat from 2007-2009, destroying tourism, but army operations to clear out militant safe havens and improved security in recent years have allowed tourism to re-emerge on the Hindu Kush mountain range.

Last week, PIA announced it would resume flight operations to Saidu Sharif airport, Swat’s only airport, closed since 2004 and equipped to handle small ATR-70 aircraft.

“Flight operation, supposed to happen on March 26, has been postponed,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan exclusively told Arab News. “”It has been put on hold for three to four weeks because of security arrangements at the airport which need to be beefed up in view of flight operations.”

Khan added: “We are speaking with the officials of administration to bring it [delay] down to two weeks. We are really excited about this operation and we intend to operate it as soon as possible.”

Last week Khan had said the purpose of resuming the flights was “to encourage tourism” and tap into the “huge potential” of the region.

There were to be two weekly flights from Lahore to Swat, with a 15 minute stopover in Islamabad.

In January 2019, Pakistan loosened travel restrictions in the hope of reviving tourism by offering visas on arrival to visitors from 50 countries and electronic visas to 175 nationalities.

Pakistan was last a prominent tourist destination in the 1970s when the “hippie trail” brought Western travelers through the apricot and walnut orchards of the Swat Valley and Kashmir on their way to India and Nepal.

Since then, deteriorating security had chipped away at the number of visitors. Security has since improved dramatically in recent years, with militant attacks down sharply in the mainly Muslim country of 220 million people.

A 2019 Gallup report said tourist traffic at cultural sites in Pakistan had seen an increase of 317 percent over five years. Tourism has also been helped by a five-day visit to Pakistan in 2019 by British royals Prince William and Kate Middleton.


Pakistan army hits Afghan Taliban drone storage facility, ammunition depot in Jalalabad

Updated 02 March 2026
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Pakistan army hits Afghan Taliban drone storage facility, ammunition depot in Jalalabad

  • Around 435 Afghan Taliban fighters killed, over 630 injured in Pakistani military offensive, minister says
  • Several countries, global bodies have urged both sides to exercise restraint since the conflict began last week

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army struck a drone storage facility and ammunition depot of Afghan Taliban in Jalalabad, a Pakistani security official said on Monday, following Pakistani strikes on more than 50 locations in Afghanistan amid ongoing hostilities between the neighbors.

Pakistan launched Operation ‘Ghazb lil Haq’ against Afghanistan on the night of Feb. 26 following an attack by Afghanistan on Pakistani military installations along their shared border.

The worst fighting between the two neighbors in years erupted after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad called militant hideouts inside Afghanistan on Feb. 21-22, accusing Kabul of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants behind the attacks on its soil. Afghanistan denies the charge.

A Pakistani security official, who requested anonymity, said the army was continuing “strong retaliatory action” against the Afghan Taliban and blew up multiple border posts, forcing them to abandon their positions.

“Pakistan forces are effectively targeting the bases and military installations of the Fitna Al-Khawarij and the Afghan Taliban,” he said.

“During the effective counter-operation of the Pakistani forces, the ammunition depot and drone storage site of Fitna Al-Khawarij (TTP) and the Afghan Taliban in Jalalabad was destroyed.”

Separately, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said more than 400 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and over 630 wounded in the Pakistani military offensive so far.

Pakistan destroyed around 188 check posts and captured 31, according to a post on X by Tarar. Over 180 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were also destroyed in Pakistani air raids at 51 locations across Afghanistan.

On Sunday, Pakistani state media shared a video of what it said were Pakistani soldiers crossing into Afghanistan in the northwest to capture an Afghan post. Pakistan has seized a 32-square-kilometer area of Afghanistan, another Pakistani security official said.

Afghan officials earlier said that dozens of Pakistani soldiers had been killed and several Pakistan posts had been captured by their forces. None of the casualty figures or battlefield claims from either side could be independently verified.

Since the conflict began last week, diplomatic efforts have intensified, with several countries and international bodies calling on both sides to exercise restraint.

The United Nations, along with China and Russia, has called for calm, while US President Donald Trump said Pakistan has the right to defend itself against cross-border militancy.