Islamabad: A total of 165 Pakistanis stranded in Syria were brought home on a special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). PIA arranged a special PIA flight of Airbus A320 to safely bring home 165 Pakistani citizens from the Syrian city of Aleppo on June 13 night.
The flight PK-8136 landed at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi where the passengers were received by senior airline officials. “A PIA flight en route from the Syrian city of Aleppo has landed in Karachi. The flight bringing 165 passengers landed at the Karachi airport at 11 pm” the PIA spokesperson said.
Pakistani citizens were stranded in Syria after the Israeli airstrikes at Damascus International Airport disrupted operations. Syrian state media confirmed that the airport had suffered major damage following the missile attack. Pakistan’s flag carrier suspended its operation due to the attack, saying that “both runways are unusable/out of service due to Israeli air strikes at Damascus airport. Therefore, the flight operations to Syria had been completely suspended.”
The flight was arranged after Pakistan’s ambassador in Syria, Saeed Mohammad Khan, requested the urgent evacuation of Pakistani pilgrims and informed the government officials that Aleppo airport was safe for flight operations.
Every year thousands of Pakistanis visit Syria to pay their respects at the shrine of Sayeda Zainab, granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him), as well as the shrines of other family members and companions of the Holy Prophet. In May this year, the PIA started direct flights from Karachi to Damascus to facilitate the pilgrims.
