By IRNA

Islamabad : A pilot was killed as French-made Mirage fighter plane of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) crashed near the city of Sargodha in eastern Punjab province on Friday, the PAF said.

"Pakistan Air Force announces with great sorrow and grief that a Mirage fighter aircraft, while on a routine operational training mission, crashed 30 Kilometers South East of Sargodha," a PAF statement said.

The pilot of the aircraft Wing Commander Azhar Ismael was killed, it said.

The crash apparently occurred due to technical malfunction, according to the statement.

No loss of life or property has been reported on ground, it said.

A board of inquiry has been ordered by Air Headquarters to determine the cause of accident.

Pakistan's arsenal of Mirages is the second biggest after France, which is not only maintaining a big fleet of Mirages but is also overhauling the planes of the PAF and air forces of several friendly countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Besides Mirages, PAF's fleet currently comprises US-origin F-16s and Chinese-made F-7s, F-7PGs and A-5s.

Pakistan has also begun serial production of the JF-17 (Thunder) aircraft, which it is manufactured jointly with China.