Taliban Criticizes Pakistan For Allowing US Drones In Afghanistan As Resistance Against Rule Grows: Reports

As guerilla fighting and resistance against the Taliban grows in Afghanistan, the acting defense minister of the country on Sunday has criticized neighbor Pakistan for allowing U.S. drones to use their airspace to enter Afghanistan.

Acting Minister of Defense Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, in a press conference in Kabul, revealed that they have found that U.S. drones have been entering Afghan airspace through Pakistan, and have criticized the country for allowing the United States to do that, according to al-Jazeera.

“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.

The United States have been carrying out drone strikes in Afghanistan over the past few months, with a July airstrike killing al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri by attacking his hideout in Kabul with two missiles.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Monday has denied outright the accusation that they are working with the United States and allowing them on their airspace, saying that the Taliban’s statement is “highly regrettable.”

“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,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “Pakistan reaffirms its belief in the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states and condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”

Meanwhile, a report shows that the contested regions in Afghanistan which are fighting against the Taliban’s rule appear to be growing, with at least seventeen districts filled with guerilla fighting while seven districts are reportedly contested with other groups, according to the Long War Journal.

The report, which is said to be only tracking organized resistance against the Taliban and not the attacks of extremist terrorist organization Islamic State’s Khorasan Province, records that the Taliban has sent a large number of reinforcements to regions such as Panjshir and Baghlan to unsuccessfully suppress the rebellions popping up there.

Many of the fighting is said to be located in the Northeastern regions of the country, with the battles happening in the rocky and mountainous areas of the nation.