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.



Maldives Ban Israelis to Protest Gaza War 

The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and briefly moved to restore relations in 2010. (Getty Images/AFP)
The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and briefly moved to restore relations in 2010. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Maldives Ban Israelis to Protest Gaza War 

The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and briefly moved to restore relations in 2010. (Getty Images/AFP)
The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and briefly moved to restore relations in 2010. (Getty Images/AFP)

The Maldives announced Tuesday it was banning the entry of Israelis from the luxury tourist archipelago in "resolute solidarity" with the Palestinian people.

President Mohamed Muizzu ratified the legislation shortly after it was approved by parliament on Tuesday.

"The ratification reflects the government's firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people," his office said in a statement.

"The Maldives reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause."

The ban will be implemented with immediate effect, a spokesman for Muizzu's office told AFP.

The Maldives, a small Islamic republic of 1,192 strategically located coral islets, is known for its secluded white sandy beaches, shallow turquoise lagoons and Robinson Crusoe-style getaways.

Official data showed that only 59 Israeli tourists visited the archipelago in February, among 214,000 other foreign arrivals.

The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and briefly moved to restore relations in 2010.

Opposition parties and government allies in the Maldives have been pressuring Muizzu to ban Israelis as a statement of opposition to the Gaza war.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged its citizens last year to avoid travelling to the Maldives.

The Gaza war broke out after Palestinian group Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that at least 1,613 Palestinians had been killed since March 18, when a ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,983.