- Even as there were reports of Taliban fighters surrendering
in Kunduz, media reports in Washington indicated that the US had allowed
Pakistan to quietly send at least half a dozen flights into an American-controlled
airfield in Afghanistan and evacuate some of the Pakistani military men
and jehadis holed up in Kunduz. But the Pakistan administration stoutly
denied the reports.
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- "Pakistan does not want to see its citizens killed
en masse, and because it is a vital American ally in this war, its sensibilities
have priority. Pakistani planes reportedly flew into Kunduz to get Pakistani
fighters out of there," 'the New York Times' reported. Reports said
officials are adopting a policy of "neither confirmation nor denial."
The reports did not indicate whether the US has any assurance that the
jehadis withdrawn from Kunduz will not go to Kashmir, Chechnya, the Philipines,
Azerbaijan and other hotspots where they are conducting their war to create
Islamic states.
Pak denies flying aircraft to Afghan to evacuate fighters However, Pakistan
denied reports that it has flown its aircraft to Afghanistan to airlift
stranded Pakistani military and ISI personnel from the besieged Afghan
town of Kunduz. Describing the reports as baseless, a Pakistan Government
spokesman said tonight it was regrettable that despite Pakistan's repeated
denials regarding the presence of any Pakistan troops or ISI official in
Afghanistan, a section of the foreign press continued to be misled by "fabricated"
stories originating from India.
This story was first published by some Indian newspapers and was promptly
contradicted by Government of Pakistan. A section of the foreign media
is unfortunately re-circulating the reports without realising the "biased"
reporting of the Indian media against Pakistan, he said.
Earlier in the week, 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 NYT report said adding two more
planes landed Thursday night, according to the latest report. One Northern
Alliance official said that a group of people had been observed today waiting
for another plane to arrive at the Kunduz airport.
It said however none of the sightings of the planes could be confirmed.
American officials, who have been evasive on this subject, say they do
not have information on the planes. Pakistani officials today declined
comment, it said.
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