Report: Taliban warned US against future drone ops

• Published date: 29 September 2021
• Author: SETH J. FRANTZMAN

According to a report at Fars News Agency on Wednesday, the Taliban group warned that it would face consequences if the United States continued its "illegal drone operations over Afghanistan's airspace." According to a report "a statement issued by the Taliban on Tuesday reiterated its commitment to the country's territorial integrity, including its airspace, and reiterated Washington's commitments under the February 2020 Doha Peace Accords." The Taliban spokesperson Sabihullah Mujahid was also quoted in the Washington Post saying the US is violating the Doha agreement by using drones over Afghanistan.

Of interest here, the Taliban claimed that the US use of drones goes against not only international law but also "its obligations to the Islamic Emirate of Doha, Qatar." The Taliban say that the US has violated Afghan airspace with drones. "These violations must be corrected and prevented….We call on all countries, especially the United States, to abide by international laws and commitments to prevent any negative consequences," the Taliban said in a statement, according to the Iran report.

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });

>

The US insists it can conduct counter-terrorism operations, the report said. "We have no agreement with the Taliban on not using Afghanistan's airspace to fight terrorism," the US said.

The report has been picked up by some other media. If the Taliban begin to see US drone operations as a provocation...