Pakistani airspace to remain shut

Pakistan on Wednesday again extended the general closure of its airspace for an additional day, making it the seventh day in a row that airspace over the country has been restricted.

The general closure of airspace has been extended till Thursday (March 7), said the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan.

The only airports functional in the country are those of Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Islamabad, Lahore, and Faisalabad, subject to routing restrictions.

The Notice to the Airmen, or NOTAM, was put in place on March 1 on the expiration of a previously issued NOTAM that was in place in the wake of tensions between India and Pakistan.

Pakistan had earlier opened its airspace for commercial flights in phases from March 1, according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Tensions have been high between India and Pakistan after around 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives in the Pulwama terror attack on February 14, the responsibility of which has been claimed by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

Following this, the Indian Air Force carried out anti-terror strikes at a JeM terror training camp in Pakistan's Balakot last week, in which a large number of terrorists were killed, according to Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.

There is mounting international pressure on Pakistan to cease providing support and a safe haven to terrorists and terror outfits in the wake of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.