Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Babar Iftikhar said on Friday that there was “no question” of Pakistani soil being used in connection with Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri’s killing.
Reports of Pakistani soil being used to launch the drone strike that killed Zawahiri had been gaining traction earlier. “The foreign ministry has issued a clear statement regarding Ayman Al-Zawahiri. It is impossible that Pakistan’s soil has been used for this,” Babar told a private television channel.
Commenting on the Kashmir issue, he said the Pakistan Army stands with the people of Kashmir. “The issue of Kashmir must be resolved and we will work toward it at every platform,” he added.
United States President Joe Biden had announced on Monday that a precision drone strike in downtown Kabul has killed Zawahiri, who helped orchestrate the 9/11 attacks. Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon had a $25 million bounty on his head for his role in the attacks that led to the death of nearly 3,000 people.
According to US officials who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, Zawahiri was killed when he stepped out on the balcony of his safe house in Kabul on Sunday morning. It was there that he was killed by Hellfire missiles launched from a US drone.
