ISLAMABAD, Dec 15: Former Air Force chief Air Marshal (retd) Malik Nur Khan died on Thursday after a long illness at the Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi. He was 88.

According to a PAF spokesman, he will be laid to rest in his ancestral village of Dandi (Tamman), Chakwal district, on Friday.

Born on Feb 22, 1923, Nur Khan was commissioned in the British Indian Air Force in Jan 1941 at the age of 18. He attended the Royal Indian Military College in Dehra Dun after completing his education at Aitchison College in Lahore.

After the creation of Pakistan, he held various key posts, including the command of Chaklala and Mauripur stations. In 1959, Nur Khan was appointed head of the Pakistan International Airlines on deputation. He held this position till July 1965 when he replaced Air Marshal Asghar Khan as the PAF chief.

Nur Khan became the sixth commander-in-chief of the PAF at the age of 42 on July 23, 1965 -- a few weeks before the Pakistan-India war. He served as the PAF chief till August 31, 1969. He also served as governor of West Pakistan from September 1, 1969 to February 1, 1970.

One of the heroes of the 1965 war, Nur Khan had the credit to have clashed with the Israeli Air Force during the 1973 Six-Day War when the then government decided to send a Pakistani contingent in support of Egypt.

He was also appointed president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation and the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Nur Khan also took part in politics and won a National Assembly seat from his ancestral village in the 1985 non-party based elections. He later joined the Pakistan People's Party and contested the 1988 elections on its ticket. However, he failed to retain his seat and decided to quit politics.