RAWALPINDI, Jan 4: Air Chief Marshal (retd) Muhammad Anwar Shamim, a former chief of the air staff and veteran of 1965 and 1971 wars, died at the Combined Military Hospital here on Friday after a prolonged illness. He was 81.

His funeral prayers will be offered at the PAF Complex in Sector E-9, Islamabad, on Saturday afternoon. He will be buried with full military honours in the Sector H-11 graveyard.

He has left behind his wife, two daughters and a son to mourn his death.

According to a press release, Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, the Chief of the Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force, has said that Air Chief Marshal (retd) Shamim ably led the PAF both in peace and during the war between the Soviet forces and Afghan Mujahideen.

He acknowledged the contributions made by the late PAF chief that, he said, turned the air force into a modern force.

Air Chief Marshal (retd) Shamim was born on October 1, 1931, in an educated family of Haripur, Hazara. He became a member of the-then University Air Squadron, to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming a fighter pilot in the PAF.---PPI