Lahore, March 2 Pakistan has temporarily closed certain routes within the Karachi and Lahore Flight Information Regions (FIRs) at specific times due to ongoing military exercises involving fighter jets from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), in response to the evolving regional situation, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said.
"The PAA announced the temporary closure of certain routes within the Karachi and Lahore Flight Information Regions (FIRs) at specific times on Monday," the spokesperson said in a statement.
"This decision has been taken in anticipation of military exercises involving fighter jets from the Pakistan Air Force, during which various sectors of the Karachi and Lahore FIRs will be closed to commercial flights," he added.
According to the notification, these air routes will be unavailable for commercial operations from March 3 to March 31, between 9 am and 3 pm daily.
"During these hours, the affected airspace will not be available for civilian flight operations," the spokesperson stated.
Pakistan has been engaged in a conflict with Afghanistan since February 27.
According to Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban following "unprovoked firing" from across the border last week.
"Pakistan's armed forces have destroyed 182 Afghan Taliban positions and captured 31, and 415 Afghan Taliban personnel have been killed and over 580 injured since the start of the operation," he said on Monday.