Firing on Pakistan plane kills woman, injures steward

Islamabad, June 25 (IANS) A woman was killed in a firing incident late Tuesday on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane while it was preparing to land at Peshawar's Bacha Khan airport, a leading Pakistani daily reported.

The PIA Boeing with around 170 passengers onboard was arriving from Riyadh, The Dawn reported, adding that a flight steward has also been injured in the incident.

Police and security forces have cordoned off the airport premises and launched a search operation to arrest the culprits behind the incident.

Inured flight steward, identified as Ijaz Chaudhry, has been shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH).

Police and PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar have confirmed the incident, the daily said.

The security has been beefed up amidst Pakistani military's ongoing operation Zarb-i-Azb against militants in North Waziristan Agency, one of the country's seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies next to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of which Peshawar is the capital.