Pakistan Threatening To Use Its Air Force Against Afghan Army, Providing Air Support To Taliban: Afghanistan's Vice President

Pakistan has threatened to use its air force against the Afghan military, Afghanistan's Vice President Amrullah Saleh has said.

Saleh, who has served as the Minister of Interior Affairs of Afghanistan and as head of the National Directorate of Security in the past, has also claimed that the Pakistan Air Force is providing close air support to the Taliban forces fighting the Afghan National Army.

According to Saleh, Pakistan has warned the Afghan military against attempts to dislodge the Taliban from the Spin Buldak area, which lies in the southeastern part of Afghanistan, on the border with Balochistan. It is not far from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, which the Taliban leadership has made its headquarters.

The development comes at a time when the United States is withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan. Nearly 90 per cent of US troops and equipment have already left Afghanistan, reports say.

The Taliban has intensified its military campaign against the Afghan National Army and has managed to gain territory in some parts of the country, fuelling the perception of inevitability of a Taliban takeover of Kabul nearly 20 years after it was driven out.