Pakistan Airlines flight intercepted by RAF Typhoons to Stansted Airport

A Pakistan Airlines flight has been intercepted by RAF Typhoon jets into Stansted Airport. The Ministry of Defence said the plane had been escorted to the airport over security fears. Essex Police said it was as a result of a disruptive passenger on board.

They added that it was ‘not believed to be a hijack situation or terror matter’. Flight PK757 took off from Pakistan’s second largest city and safely landed at about 3pm.

Stansted Airport in Essex is the default airport for any security threat, however the airport remained open during the incident. A spokesman for the RAF confirmed the incident had been handed over to the police.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: ‘An aircraft was diverted to Stansted Airport at around 3pm this afternoon, Tuesday, February 7, while over UK airspace en-route to Heathrow Airport due to reports of a disruptive passenger on board.

‘The plane is currently at the airport and officers are making enquiries. There is no disruption to the ongoing operation of Stansted Airport.

‘This is not believed to be a hijack situation or terror matter.’

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More than 40 people feared dead after plane crash in Pakistan

 Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight with more than 40 people on board has crashed in the north of the country. Flight PK-661 “lost contact with the control tower on its way from Chitral to Islamabad a short while ago”, the airline said in a statement.

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) told the BBC that the wreckage had not yet been found. The national carrier has been accused of safety failures in the past.

In the last major crash in 2006, 44 people died. The plane came down in the Havelian area, about 70km (43 miles) north of Islamabad, local media are reporting.

The plane took off from Chitral at around 10:00GMT (15:00 local time), losing contact 90 minutes later, shortly before it was due to arrive at its destination, media report.

A famous former pop singer turned Islamic preacher, Junaid Jamshed, and his wife were on the flight’s passenger list, according to leading private news channel GEO TV.

The army says it has dispatched troops and helicopters to the location, AP reports.

The EU banned PIA flights from flying to Europe in 2007 over safety concerns.

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Death toll in Pakistani park bombing hits 71

Grief enveloped Pakistan on Monday as the official death toll from a suicide bombing at a public park in Lahore rose to 69, with 341 people wounded. But the local news media put the number of people killed at 71.

The Sunday’s suicide bombing was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban’s Jamaat-ur-Ahrar faction, which once declared loyalty to Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, saying it was targeting Christians.

The attack within the power base of the Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, was Jamaat-ur-Ahrar’s fifth bombing since December.

Reuters reports that at least 29 children enjoying an Easter weekend outing were among those killed when the suicide bomber struck in a busy park in the eastern city of Lahore. Pakistan is a majority-Muslim state but has a Christian population of more than two million.

Police investigators said a suicide bomber had detonated explosives in a vest during the evening rush hour on Sunday at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, one of the largest public parks in this eastern city. Prime Minister Sharif arrived in Lahore on Monday morning and visited Jinnah Hospital to show solidarity with the victims. He said he was deeply grieved and vowed to bring the culprits to justice.

Later, he met with senior government officials and pledged to eliminate terrorism, The New York Timesreports.

“Our resolve as a nation and as a government is getting stronger, and the cowardly enemy is trying for soft targets,” Sharif said during the meeting. “Our goal is not only to eliminate terror infrastructure but also the extremist mind-set, which is a threat to our way of life.”

A military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Asim Bajwa, said intelligence raids had been carried out in three cities in Punjab Province, of which Lahore is the capital, after the attack, and that a “number of terrorists and facilitators were arrested.” However, he gave no further details about the identities of those arrested or whether they were connected to Sunday’s bombing.

-Punch

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43 dead as Pakistani Taliban storms airbase

Fighters belonging to the Pakistani Taliban have stormed an air force station near Peshawar in Pakistan’s northwest, resulting in a firefight with security forces and the deaths of at least 43 people, sources say.

ISPR, the Pakistan military’s media wing, said at least 21 security officers and five civilians working at the Badaber Air Force base died and 14 fighters were killed in Friday morning’s gun battle. The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Taliban, claimed responsibility for the raid at the facility, located on the edge of Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

An army captain and two guards were among the dead, according to the military and a local hospital that received the bodies, and at least 10 soldiers were wounded. It was unclear if any of the attackers got away. Details about how they managed to make their way into a mosque inside the compound walls and kill worshippers during prayers were sketchy.

Ambulances took around 20 wounded military personnel to hospital, Bilal Ahmed, a rescue official, told Reuters news agency.

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43 dead as Pakistani Taliban storms airbase

Fighters belonging to the Pakistani Taliban have stormed an air force station near Peshawar in Pakistan’s northwest, resulting in a firefight with security forces and the deaths of at least 43 people, sources say.

ISPR, the Pakistan military’s media wing, said at least 21 security officers and five civilians working at the Badaber Air Force base died and 14 fighters were killed in Friday morning’s gun battle. The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Taliban, claimed responsibility for the raid at the facility, located on the edge of Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

An army captain and two guards were among the dead, according to the military and a local hospital that received the bodies, and at least 10 soldiers were wounded. It was unclear if any of the attackers got away. Details about how they managed to make their way into a mosque inside the compound walls and kill worshippers during prayers were sketchy.

Ambulances took around 20 wounded military personnel to hospital, Bilal Ahmed, a rescue official, told Reuters news agency.

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