Today marks the 12th death anniversary of 1965 war hero MM Alam.

Today, March 18, commemorates the 12th anniversary of the death of Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam, the esteemed military hero of the 1965 Indo-Pak conflict.

Squadron Leader MM Alam achieved a historic feat by destroying five Indian Air Force aircraft in less than one minute, a record that remains unbroken. His outstanding performance in the conflict garnered him the Sitara-e-Jurat.

Alam was born on July 6, 1935, into a well-educated family in Calcutta, British India, and was the eldest of eleven siblings. The family relocated from Calcutta to eastern Bengal, which became East Pakistan after the establishment of Pakistan in 1947. He enlisted in the RPAF (now PAF) in 1952 and was commissioned on 2 October 1953.

His family relocated to West Pakistan in 1971, following the secession of East Pakistan.

In 1982, Alam retired from the Pakistan Air Force as an Air Commodore and settled in Karachi.

The battle hero died on March 18, 2013, at the age of 78 following a protracted illness.