Google – AFP, 14 July 2013
Pakistan
paratroopers forces take part in military drills near Karachi
(AFP/File, Asif
Hassan)
|
ISLAMABAD —
Pakistan's first group of female paratroopers completed their training on
Sunday, the military announced, hailing it as a "landmark
achievement" for the deeply conservative Muslim country.
Captain
Kiran Ashraf was declared the best paratrooper of the batch of 24, the military
said in a statement, while Captain Sadia, referred to by one name, became the
first woman officer to jump from a MI-17 helicopter.
Women have
limited opportunities in Pakistan's highly traditional, patriarchal society.
The United Nations says only 40 percent of adult women are literate, and they
are frequently the victims of violence and abuse.
But in 2006
seven women broke into one of Pakistan's most exclusive male clubs to graduate
as fighter pilots -- perhaps the most prestigious job in the powerful military
and for six decades closed to the fairer sex.
After three
weeks' basic airborne training, which included exit, flight and landing
techniques, the new paratroopers completed their first jump on Sunday and were
given their "wings" by the commander of Special Services Group, Major
General Abid Rafique, the military said.
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