KARACHI: PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Saturday the “question” was not about Pakistan’s soil being used in the US drone attack that killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri, but its airspace as he demanded a formal statement from ministries.

The former minister was seemingly referring to recent remarks by the military spokesperson on the matter, according to a Dawn.com report.

In a brief telephone interview with Geo News last night, the DG ISPR ruled out the possibility, saying there was no question of Pakistan soil being used for “such a purpose”.

On Saturday, Mr Chaudhry tweeted: “The question is whether Pakistan’s airspace was allowed to be used or not.”

“Repetitive statements on Pakistan’s land not being used are unclear,” he continued, stressing that relevant ministries would have to issue a formal statement over the matter.

In a press conference on Friday, Mr Chaudhry demanded to know whether Pakistan’s airspace had been used by the United States for a recent drone strike that killed Zawahiri. “The nation wants to know whether we are again going to become a tool of the United States against Al Qaeda,” he said.

Asked about the matter, the DG ISPR said, “The Foreign Office has clarified it in detail. They are all rumours, as anybody can write anything on social media. We should avoid this. Our enemy, in particular, feeds such information and they (people) get exploited.”

The US carried out a drone strike in Kabul on Sunday morning and killed Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who had a $25 million bounty on his head for helping coordinate the Sept 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Immediately after it was reported, a number of PTI leaders raised questions about Pakistan’s role in the attack, prompting the ISPR clarification.

In an interview with Express News earlier this week, former premier Imran Khan warned that “providing airspace to America” could damage relations with Afghanistan.

“If we give space and if America conducts a drone attack in Afghanistan, it will affect our tribal areas. Do we want to become a part of someone else’s war amid these crises?” he asked.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2022