ISLAMABAD: Air Marshal Syed Noman Ali, the vice chief of air staff of the Pakistan Air Force, on Monday reviewed the ongoing multinational air exercise “ACES Meet 2021-1” at a PAF Operational Air Base, with the commander of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Air Base in attendance.
The two-week exercise kicked off at PAF’s operational air base on Monday with the objective to maximize the combat readiness of participating countries through near-realistic and role-oriented air-to-air combat training, with a focus on counterterrorism operations.
Saudi Arabia and the US have brought combat aircraft and fairly large contingents of pilots and technical staff to the exercise. The Royal Saudi Air Force contingent consists of 180 officials, including pilots and technicians, who arrived with several Tornado multirole combat aircraft and the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.
Around 50 officials from Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain are also present at the drill as observers.
“Vice Chief of Air Staff, PAF was given a comprehensive brief by Commandant Airpower Center of Excellence, Air Commodore Ahsen Yousaf, about the salient features and progress of the exercise ‘ACES MEET 2021-1’,” PAF said in a statement. “The Vice Chief expressed his satisfaction over the operational preparedness of the participating units and conduct of the exercise.”
Major General Eid Bin Barrak Al-Otaibi, commander King Abdulaziz Air Base, was also present at the occasion, PAF said, along with other military dignitaries from PAF and the Royal Saudi Air Force.
The King Abdulaziz Air Base, also known as Dhahran Air Base and formerly Dhahran International Airport, Dhahran Airport and Dhahran Airfield, is a Royal Saudi Air Force base located in Dhahran in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The air base was the first Saudi Arabian airport to be constructed, in 1961.
King Abdulaziz air base commander attends Pakistani air force drill review
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King Abdulaziz air base commander attends Pakistani air force drill review
- Air Marshal Syed Noman Ali, vice chief of air staff of Pakistan Air Force, on Monday reviewed ongoing multinational air exercise ACES Meet 2021-1
- Saudi Arabia and the US have brought combat aircraft and fairly large contingents of pilots and technical staff to the exercise
Pakistan arrests suspect arriving from Cambodia amid crackdown on human smuggling
- Suspect worked at an “online fraud company” in Cambodia, later started smuggling people from Pakistan, says FIA
- Pakistan has intensified crackdown against human smugglers after hundreds of migrants drowned near Pylos in 2023
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday said it had arrested a key suspect involved in smuggling humans who had arrived from Cambodia, alleging he was also part of an international fraud network.
The suspect, identified as Zainullah, was arrested by FIA officials when he arrived in the southern port city of Karachi from Cambodia.
Zainullah had traveled from Pakistan to Cambodia in September 2024, a press release issued by the agency said.
“He worked at an online fraud company in Cambodia and later became involved as an agent in recruiting individuals from Pakistan,” the FIA said.
The FIA said it recovered images of multiple individuals’ passports, payment receipts and bank transaction records after extracting data from Zainullah’s phone.
It said the suspect received money through personal bank accounts and a cryptocurrency account.
“The suspect has been handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle, Karachi, for further legal proceedings,” the FIA said.
“Further investigation is underway.”
Pakistan intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank off the Greek town of Pylos, one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Mediterranean.
Authorities say they continue to target networks sending citizens abroad through dangerous routes, following heightened scrutiny at airports and a series of arrests involving forged documents.
Pakistan’s interior ministry said this week illegal migration to Europe has declined by 47 percent this year after its nationwide crackdown, saying that more than 1,700 human smugglers have been arrested in 2025.
