PIA suspends flights to Northern Areas for a day

Karachi [Pakistan], Sept. 21 (ANI): Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Wednesday cancelled its flights to the Northern Areas on the orders of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). "As per directives of CAA, the air space over Northern areas will remain closed on Wednesday, September 21. Inconvenience regretted," the Express Tribune quoted PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani, as saying in a tweet. Reports suggested that in anticipation of possible strike by India for the Uri terror incident, Pakistan warplanes were practicing takeoffs and landings. Four heavily armed militants had stormed the battalion headquarters of the Army in Uri, close to the Line of Control (LoC), in the wee hours on Sunday, killing 18 Indian jawans and injuring more than 20 other personnel. In the encounter, the security forces neutralised all of them within hours. The terrorists, who attacked the military base in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri, belonged to Pakistan's banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). In a series of tweets after the attack, the Prime Minister said, "I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished". He added, "We salute all those martyred in Uri. Their services to the nation will always be remembered. My thoughts are with the bereaved families (of the Army jawans)". Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh also branded Islamabad as a terrorist state and said the Asian neighbour should be isolated and sanctioned at international platforms. Pakistan has, however, flatly rejected New Delhi's claims of involvement in the Uri terror attack, stating that the latter has a traditional tendency to point fingers at the former whenever a terror attack takes place on Indian soil. Indian Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh had also warned Pakistan in the wake of the Uri strike and said India reserves the right to respond to any act of the adversary. According to sources, India is set to raise the Uri attack at the 71st UNGA session and highlight Pakistan's alleged involvement in the deadly terror strike. India will raise the matter in the U.N. General Assembly and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will strongly emphasise on Pakistan's involvement in her speech on September 26. (ANI)