November 25, 2001	Sunday	Ramazan 9, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: No Pakistani aircraft has flown into Afghanistan since the world coalition began its military action against the Taliban regime, said a government spokesman here on Saturday.

He described as baseless a report appearing in a section of the foreign Press, alleging airlifting of the Pakistanis stranded in Kunduz.

“This story”, he said, “was in fact first published by some Indian newspapers and was promptly contradicted by the government of Pakistan.”

The spokesman regretted that despite Pakistan’s repeated denials regarding the presence of any Pakistani troops or ISI officials in Afghanistan, a section of the foreign Press continued to be misled by fabricated stories originating from the Indian media.

A section of the foreign Press was unfortunately re-circulating the reports without realizing the biased reporting of the Indian media against Pakistan, he added.—APP

Our New York Correspondent adds: The New York Times had claimed in its Saturday’s issue that Pakistani aeroplanes had again flown into encircled city of Kunduz to evacuate Pakistanis who were trapped there.

The planes, the paper claimed, had arrived as Alliance leaders prepared to accept a partial surrender of Taliban forces in the last northern city they hold.

Earlier in the week, the Alliance officials said they had been told by a Taliban leader in Kunduz that at least three Pakistani Air Force planes had landed in recent days on similar missions, the Times said.