(MENAFN- Khaama Press) The spokesperson for the US State Department refrained from commenting on reports of the US using Pakistani air bases to target terrorist groups in Afghanistan and requested clarification from the Pentagon on the matter.
Vedant Patel, the Deputy Spokesperson for the US State Department, on Thursday, April 18th, during a press briefing regarding the US's utilization of Pakistani air bases to target terrorist groups in Afghanistan and the security cooperation between Pakistan and the US, stated that he would defer the explanation on this matter to the US Department of Defense.
Sher Afzal Khan Marwat, a Pakistani politician, from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, on Wednesday, stated that Pakistan has handed over two airbases in Balochistan, near the borders of Afghanistan and Iran, to the United States.
In recent weeks, unmanned aerial vehicles have been observed in the skies of several Afghan cities, including Kandahar. The flight of these drones is part of America's efforts to monitor terrorist groups in Afghanistan and carry out attacks against them.
The Taliban, without naming Pakistan, has accused neighboring countries of Afghanistan of allowing these drones to pass through their airspace.
According to the Euro Asian Times news website, rumors and reports of the US using Pakistani bases have intensified after General Kenneth McKenzie, the then-commander of CENTCOM, told a US Senate committee:“The Biden administration needs to engage with neighboring countries of Afghanistan to contain the quasi-militants of ISIS and Al-Qaeda outside Afghanistan.”
The issue of the US handing over its air base to Pakistan has been controversial in recent years in Pakistan. Following America's attack on Afghanistan, Pakistan provided its air bases, including the Shamsi Air Base in Balochistan, to US forces to fight against the Taliban, but later the US vacated this base.
As the time for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan approaches and the end of this country's military presence in Afghanistan, once again the issue of the US using Pakistani air bases has heated up, at which time Imran Khan's government refrained from handing over the base to the US.
Among Afghanistan's neighbors, Pakistan has close military ties with the US and has allowed this country to use its soil against Al-Qaeda in the past.
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