PESHAWAR, Nov 6: A fighter plane of Pakistan Air Force fired shots, injuring a woman and her minor granddaughter on the premises of Cantonment Hospital here on Wednesday.
Police officials and witnesses said an aircraft fired around eight shots from the air at about 11.35am, hitting the buildings of the West Cantt Police Station and the Cantonment Hospital.
Wing Commander Fazal Akbar acknowledged the incident, but insisted that the shots were fired accidentally from a F-5 fighter plane. The plane was on ground, not airborne, he claimed.
“Few shots were fired, but it happened accidentally when technicians were cleaning the aircraft’s gun chambers,” the commander said, adding that an inquiry had been ordered.
He said there were possibilities that few rounds stuck in the chamber of the aircraft’s gun had gone off suddenly. But he did not say how it was possible that the shots directly hit the two buildings, located a couple of kilometres away from the air base.
The witnesses said that several buildings came under fire in the Cantonment area, which caused panic among the residents.
“A fighter plane was airborne when we heard sounds of shots that hit the West Cantt Police Station and the nearby Cantonment hospital,” a police official told Dawn.
The officials have identified six marks of bullets on the hospital building and two on the outer walls and water tank of the police station. Some empties were found in the nearby Khyber Super Market.
A woman, Aisha and her minor granddaughter Iqra, who were on the hospital premises, received injuries when they were hit by the pieces of windowpanes. They were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital.
