Updated: June 13, 2013, 12:00 AM
In pictures: Pakistan's female top gun
Ayesha Farooq, 26, (C) Pakistan's only female war-ready fighter pilot, chats with her colleagues beside a Chinese-made F-7PG fighter jet at Mushaf base in Sargodha, north Pakistan June 6, 2013. Farooq, from Punjab province's historic city of Bahawalpur, is one of 19 women who have become pilots in the Pakistan Air Force over the last decade - there are five other female fighter pilots, but they have yet to take the final tests to qualify for combat. A growing number of women have joined Pakistan's defence forces in recent years as attitudes towards women change. Picture taken June 6, 2013. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra (PAKISTAN - Tags: MILITARY SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) *** Local Caption *** ZOH01_PAKISTAN-AIRF_0612_11.JPG
Farooq, from Punjab province's historic city of Bahawalpur, is one of 19 women who have become pilots in the Pakistan Air Force over the last decade - there are five other female fighter pilots, but they have yet to take the final tests to qualify for com???
"I don't feel any different. We do the same activities, the same precision bombing," the soft-spoken 26-year-old said of her male colleagues at Mushaf base in north Pakistan, where neatly piled warheads sit in sweltering 50C.
A growing number of women have joined Pakistan's defence forces in recent years as attitudes towards women change.
"Because of terrorism and our geographical location it's very important that we stay on our toes," said Farooq, referring to Taliban militancy and a sharp rise in sectarian violence.
Deteriorating security in neighbouring Afghanistan, where US-led troops are preparing to leave by the end of next year, and an uneasy relationship with arch rival India to the east add to the mix.
"In our society most girls don't even think about doing such things as flying an aircraft," she said.
Pakistan now has 316 women in the air force compared to around 100 five years ago, Wing Commander Abbas said.
But over the last decade, women have became sky marshals, defending Pakistan's commercial liners against insurgent attacks, and a select few are serving in the elite anti-terrorist force. Like most female soldiers in the world, Pakistani women are still b???