LAHORE (DNA) – 96-year-old former Air Chief Air Marshal Asghar Khan has passed away at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalpindi after a long illness on Friday morning.

According to his family sources, the funeral prayer of Khan would be offered at Nawan Shehr in Abbottabad on Saturday.

Asghar Khan, a retired Air Marshal, was a veteran politician, aviation historian and first native commander in chief of Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

On his demise, several political leaders expressed grief and prayed for his departed soul.

Paying tribute to his services for the country, the Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Ababsi prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and grant of courage to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss with fortitude.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan lauded the struggles of Asghar Khan and said that he was a man of steadfast principles who transformed PAF.