Female Pakistani sky marshals ready to protect passenger jets

KARACHI, Pakistan -- An elite force of karate-kicking anti-terrorist fighters will begin riding on domestic Pakistani passenger jets this month. The new sky marshals are gaining attention in the conservative Islamic society -- not only for their skills, but because nine are women.

The first women sky marshals completed a 10-week course last month in hand-to-hand combat so grueling that some of their 49 male classmates dropped out.

The women say they're ready to keep Pakistan safe from terrorist attacks. But they also see themselves as making inroads in a society where women are widely seen as separate -- and inferior -- to men.

"Passing this tough training proves Pakistani women have the potential to show their skills in all fields that are considered the domain of men," said graduate Asma Khan, 22.

Part of the national airport police, Pakistan's first batch of sky marshals -- all male -- were sent into duty following the 1981 hijacking of a Pakistan commercial jet. The first sky marshals were armed and had to be taken off jets after other countries protested.

But after the Sept. 11 attacks -- and fears that Pakistan would become a terrorist battleground -- the sky marshals were revived, this time unarmed.

The first recruits finished a martial arts course taught by Pakistani army instructors July 22 and will begin flying in mid-August. Initially, they will be limited to domestic flights, but if the program is successful, officials say the sky marshals may start flying internationally as well.

The instructors said Khan and the other women were held to the same rigorous standards as men during training.

"This training is so tough that male recruits often quit, but the women trainees proved their will and determination and showed amazing courage," said Maj. Hamid Raza, who led the army trainers.

Raza said the two top finishers in the course, both women, were awarded the airport security force's "Sword of Honor" -- the first women to receive the award.

They did so well that 10 more women will be included in the next batch of 70 sky marshals, Raza said. He said the number of women per class will likely be increased after that.

No female members of the airport police had ever gone through a full-combat training course side-by-side with men.

Neither have women in Pakistan's armed forces, said Raza.

"For the first time, and in an Islamic country, women have been trained equally as men," Raza said.