Uzbeks Say Aircraft Flown From Afghanistan Are US Property

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Against the demands of the Taliban, the authorities in Uzbekistan said dozens of aircraft to their territory when the former Afghan government fainted last summer was owned by the United States and would not be returned to the temporary government in Kabul.

This decision is likely to complicate the efforts of the Uzbek government to be involved with the Taliban and eventually develop trade routes through its southern neighbors to Pakistan and the Indian Ocean.

Afghan Air Force personnel flew nearly 50 helicopters and wing planes remained to Uzbekistan in mid -August when former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani left the country and the Taliban troops invaded the capital, Kabul. Some Black Hawk airplanes and helicopters were taken to Tajikistan neighbors to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Taliban.

The Taliban leaders have been insisting that the plane belonged to Afghanistan and demanded them back.

Overcoming the Afghan Air Force ceremony in Kabul in January, Taliban Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob said his government would never let the aircraft be confiscated or used by northern neighbors.

I respectfully call [Uzbekistan and Tajikistan] not to test our patience and do not force us to take all the steps of retaliation that might be [to reclaim the plane],” Yaqoob said without describing.

But Ismatulla Irgashev, senior advisor to President Uzbek Shavkat Mirziyoyev, told VOA during this new interview in Tashkent that the plane would not return to Kabul.

The US government pays them,” said Irgashev, the most senior diplomat in his country that deal with Afghanistan problems. “This is funding the Afghan government before. So, we believe it is completely up to Washington how to deal with it.

The escape of the pilots by plane marked one of several Taliban setbacks during a chaotic period that marked their total Afghanistan.

A little has been said about this problem, in part because of the sensitivity of the problem in the relationship of Uzbek-Afghanistan and the reluctance of officials on all parties to discuss it.

But the U.S. Defense Officer Confirming to VOA that Uzbekistan and Tajikistan do not have plans to give the aircraft to the Taliban.

The aircraft continues to be the subject of regional security involvement with the Governments of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan,” spokesman for the U.S. Defense Department, Major Major Rob Lodewick, said when asked about the fate of the aircraft and helicopters.

On August 21, 2021, there were 46 aircraft in Uzbekistan and 18 in Tajikistan, the official said. This includes the MI-17 UH-60 helicopter and the wing aircraft remains PC-12, C-208, AC-208 and A-29.

A U.S. Defense Officer, spoke to VOA on an anonymous condition to discuss sensitive subjects, that the US had “shown” on aircraft in both countries and said that they were technically included in US military services that bought them for Afghanistan security forces.