Residents in various provinces of Afghanistan, especially Kabul, Khost and Kandahar, have recently expressed concern over the increase in drone patrols in the country's airspace.

They say that they do not know which country the drones belong to and for what purpose they are patrolling Afghanistan's airspace.

This issue has been raised in Khost, and residents in a demonstration on Monday asked the security institutions to clarify the issue.

“Drones have been patrolling in Khost province recently and people in this provice are worried about which country these planes belong to,” said Ehsas, a resident of Khost.

“All the people of Khost are concerned about where these aircraft are from, so we ask the Islamic Emirate to inform the people about these planes--which country these planes belong to and why they are patrolling,” said Sharifullah, another resident of Khost.

But the Islamic Emirate, without giving details about the aircraft, said that Afghanistan is no longer a threat to any country and Afghanistan's airspace should not be violated.

“Now that the situation in Afghanistan is secure, and no country is threatened by Afghanistan, there is no need for anyone or any country to interfere in any way, including in the airspace of our country,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate.

Meanwhile, a number of Kandahar residents say that they have recently witnessed drones patrolling parts of the province.

“Most nights drones are heard in Kandahar, and we hear on social media about it in other provinces too,” said a Kandahar resident.

“It may be neighboring countries or powerful countries and they belong to them. This proves that Afghanistan's airspace is ownerless,” said Asadullah Nadim, a military expert.

A source in Kabul airport's operations department confirmed that drones are occasionally seen on the airport's radar system, flying at altitudes of more than 35,000 ft, but it is not clear which country they belong to and what kind of goal they pursue.