Taliban Accuses Pakistan of Allowing US Drones to Use its Airspace

Armed members of Taliban stand guard near a Mosque that was damaged in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, 18 August 2022. (EPA)
Armed members of Taliban stand guard near a Mosque that was damaged in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, 18 August 2022. (EPA)
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Taliban Accuses Pakistan of Allowing US Drones to Use its Airspace

Armed members of Taliban stand guard near a Mosque that was damaged in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, 18 August 2022. (EPA)
Armed members of Taliban stand guard near a Mosque that was damaged in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, 18 August 2022. (EPA)

The Taliban's acting defense minister on Sunday said Pakistan had allowed American drones to use its airspace to access Afghanistan, a charge Pakistan has recently denied following a US air strike in Kabul.

Acting Minister of Defense Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob told reporters at a news conference in Kabul that American drones have been entering Afghanistan via Pakistan.

"According to our information the drones are entering through Pakistan to Afghanistan, they use Pakistan's airspace, we ask Pakistan, don't use your airspace against us," he said.

Pakistan's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pakistani authorities have denied involvement in or advanced knowledge of a drone strike the United States said it carried out in Kabul in July that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Yaqoob's comments could exacerbate tension between the neighboring nations at a time when the Afghan Taliban is mediating talks between Pakistan and a Pakistani Taliban militant group. Afghanistan also relies heavily on trade with Pakistan as the country experiences an economic crisis.

The Taliban said it is investigating the July air strike and that it has not found the Al-Qaeda leader's body.



Russia Launches Scores of Drones on Ukraine, Four People Injured, Kyiv Says

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows the site of a drone attack on a storage building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 April 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE  HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows the site of a drone attack on a storage building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 April 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE HANDOUT
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Russia Launches Scores of Drones on Ukraine, Four People Injured, Kyiv Says

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows the site of a drone attack on a storage building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 April 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE  HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows the site of a drone attack on a storage building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 April 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE HANDOUT

Russia launched a barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine, injuring four people and damaging residential and commercial buildings in Kyiv and other parts of the country, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday. Ukraine's air defenses shot down 56 of 88 Russian drones, its air force said. It added that 24 drones were "lost" as the military used electronic warfare to redirect them.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitchko said that three people were injured in the capital as a result of the drone attacks, Reuters said.
Drone debris also destroyed a private house and damaged several commercial buildings, causing large fires in different parts of Kyiv, city officials said.
One more person was wounded in the city of Kharkiv in the northeast, Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said.
Regional officials also said that residential and commercial buildings were damaged in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, and the military reported damage in the Odesa region in the south.