KOHAT: A Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft jettisoned its fuel tank in the mountainous area of Sayyab on the Rawalpindi Road here on Wednesday, causing a huge noise and panicking the locals.

The Gumbat police recovered the fuel tank, which had hit the ground with a bang, and later handed it over to the Pakistan Air Force.

A PAF official confirmed the incident, saying the pilot dropped the fuel tank in an area away from the population after developing some technical issues. Speaking on condition of not being named, he said a team was investigating the nature of the fault in the aircraft.

He, however, disclosed that Kohat was being used for stationing squadrons of JF-17 Thunder and MiG-21 fighter jets. The PAF official said the aircraft made an emergency landing safely at one of the two airstrips in Kohat. He said the jet ejected only one fuel tank.

It reminded the people of a crash of Fokker F27 aircraft, killing all on board, including former air chief Mushaf Ali Mir, his wife, two vice air marshals, other officers, and the crew in the same area on February 20, 2003.

ARREST: The police on Wednesday foiled an attempt of smuggling hashish by arresting the carrier at the Muslimabad checkpost on the Indus Highway here.

A team led by SHO Jarma police station Sohail Khan stopped a motorcyclist at the checkpost, and recovered six kilogrammes of hashish concealed in packets from underneath the fuel tank of the bike, according to a statement.

The carrier, Nawaz Khan of Khyber district, told the police that he had bought the drug in his home district.

A case was registered against him under the Drug Act.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2023