Air Force Day (Urdu: یوم فضائیه‎ or Youm-e-Fizaya) is celebrated in Pakistan as a national day on 7 September, after the annual celebration of the Defence Day. Airshows and other programs mark the Pakistan Air Force's (PAF) role in defending the nation in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.^[1][2]

Indo-Pakisani war of 1965[edit]

Main article: Indo-Pakistani Air War of 1965

On 6 September, both countries openly went to war following a series of minor skirmishes that preceded the 6th, when Pakistan was attacked by India from the Lahore-Burki sector during the dead of night (at 5 am). The war began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against rule by India. The five-week war caused thousands of casualties on both sides. It ended in a United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration.

Notable decorations[edit]

A notable event of the war was that Pakistan Air Force flying ace Muhammad Mahmood Alam shot down five Indian Air Force Hawker Hunter Mk.56 fighters in less than a minute, four being in first 30 seconds and became one of the fewaviators who became ace in a day and the only jet age ace-in-a-day. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat ("The star of courage") and bar for his actions.^[3][4][5]