By Shakeel Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: A new video of Airports Security Force (ASF) officials beating up and spitting on passengers at the Islamabad International Airport has surfaced on social media, sparking outrage.
The airport, which has been embroiled in issues one after the other since its inception, became a war zone as the two parties resolved to a scuffle after a connecting flight was delayed for over eight hours on October 17.
According to reports, a Peshawar bound flight from Riyadh was rerouted to Islamabad due to bad weather in Peshawar.
Andleeb also added that the weather in Peshawar was clear as confirmed by residents on the northern city while other flights had also successfully landed at the Bacha Khan International Airport during the eight-hour delay. Another anonymous passenger who experienced the situation as an eyewitness reiterated the same. The altercation began when the passengers began protesting due to not being provided with any information or answers to their queries.
The protesting passengers complained that they were repeatedly denied an answer as to why a domestic flight had been delayed for almost half a day whereas they were being kept in what seemed like a makeshift jail.
However, ASF officials who were sent in to resolve the situation and appease the tired passengers resolved to violence and were caught on tape while punching, spitting and throwing a chair on passengers who demanded relief. A number of people criticised the unprofessional attitude of ASF staff on social media and questioned the inhumane conditions the travellers were kept in.
Renowned media figure, Fakhr-e-Alam also took to Twitter and called for the officials involved to be sacked immediately.
