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Joint parade of

armed forces today

ISLAMABAD: A joint parade of armed forces on the 60th Pakistan Day will be held here on Thursday.

President Rafiq Tarar will be the chief guest at the ceremony and will review and address the parade.

The event will begin with the march past of the smartly turned out contingent of the three armed forces Ñ Army, Navy and Air Force.

The fly-past led by air Chief Marshal Pervez Mehdi Qureshi, Chief of the Air Staff, in a multi-role F-16 aircraft will follow the Presidential address.

Other aircraft participating in the fly-past will include Mirage, A-5 and F-6 fighters. It will end with nail-biting and breath taking bomb burst by four F-16s.

After the fly-past, the marching mechanised columns comprising battalions of the Punjab Regiment, Sindh Regiment, Northern Light Infantry Regiment, Special Services Group Commandos, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan air Force and Civil Armed Forces included Frontier Corps Balochistan, Pakistan Rangers, Mujahid Force, Sindh Police and Boy Scouts would march past the saluting dais.

The mechanised columns, led by helicopters of the Army aviation, represented by the contingents of armoured corps, armoured infantry, artillery, Heavy Anti-Tank Regiment, army air defence, engineers and signals, indigenously-produced weapons like surface-to-surface missiles, Hatf will also participate in the parade.

Besides floats of Defence Production, Ministry of Industries and Production, Ministry of Science and Technology, colourful floats depicting the cultural life of the people of the four provinces will also feature in the parade.

A specially designed float for Kashmir, led by women and children representing the freedom struggle of Kashmiris, will also take part in the parade.

Four T-37 aircraft of PAF will present spectacular aerobatics, to exhibit the skill and technique acquired by the "Shaheens of Pakistan."

Daring free-fall jumps from a height of 10,000 feet by paratroopers of special services groups would mark the conclusion of the event.ÑAPP