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Taliban says US drone attacks on Afghan soil violate law

Taliban says US drone attacks on Afghan soil violate law

The Taliban leadership has raised strong objections to the U.S. not informing it before carrying out drone strikes in Afghanistan territory. 

Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told China's state television CGTN on Monday that the US drone attack in Kabul was unlawful and seven people were killed.  The Taliban views itself as having taken over the government in Afghanistan and expects to be informed before any such action is undertaken.

"If there was any potential threat in Afghanistan, it should have been reported to us, not an arbitrary attack that has resulted in civilian casualties," Mujahid said in a written response to CGTN.

The United States said it was investigating whether civilians may have been killed in its second drone strike that was launched on Sunday to destroy a car full of explosives in Kabul belonging to the ISIS-K terror group, a spokesman for US Central Command (CENTCOM) said late on Sunday. The terrorist was planning to use the car bomb in a second attack on the Kabul airport.

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"We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties," it said.

Mujahid had earlier issued a similar condemnation of a U.S. drone strike on Saturday that killed two Islamic State militants in the eastern province of Nangarhar.  "The Americans should have informed us before conducting the air strike. It was a clear attack on Afghan territory," a Taliban spokesman told Reuters, adding that two women and a child were wounded in the attack.