Foreign Office negates Afghan Taliban’s claim that Pakistani airspace was used for Zawahiri strike

The FO’s response came after, earlier in the day, Afghan Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid accused Pakistan of providing airspace for US drones to enter his country, saying the incursions were a continuation of Washington’s “invasion”, reports AFP.

Mujahid made the remark just days after US President Joe Biden announced al-Zawahiri was killed in a drone strike in Kabul.

US drones continued to be seen flying over Kabul even now, Mujahid was quoted as saying by AFP.

“Our information shows that they (US drones) are entering into Afghanistan from Pakistan, using the airspace of Pakistan,” Mujahid told reporters when asked where the drones were coming from.

“We demand that Pakistan should not allow its airspace to be used against us," he said.

Deploying these drones into Afghanistan is “still a clear invasion of Afghanistan and its airspace by the Americans”, Mujahid said.

“They are doing this shamelessly. We condemn this illegal act and demand that the Americans put an end to it.”

The drone attack in July that killed Zawahiri, Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden’s successor, was the first known strike by the US on a target in Afghanistan since the US withdrew its troops from the South Asian nation.

The Taliban captured and took control over Afghanistan on Aug 15, 2021.

Responding to Taliban's claims, Pakistan's Foreign Office was quoted as saying by AFP in a statement: "In the absence of any evidence, as acknowledged by the Afghan minister himself, such conjectural allegations are highly regrettable and defy the norms of responsible diplomatic conduct."

“Pakistan reaffirms its belief in the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states and condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” the press release reads.