Uzbekistan and the United States have agreed on the official transfer of planes and helicopters to Tashkent, on which Afghan pilots fled to the republic after the “Taliban” came to power. This was recently stated by the US Ambassador to Tashkent Jonathan Henick, the Uzbek media reported.
We are talking about 46 units of military equipment stolen in August 2021 (22 planes and 24 helicopters). The pilots of the Afghan Air Force managed to transport them to Uzbekistan. Among them were Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, PC-12, C-208, AC-208 and A-29 aircraft, Mi-17 and UH-60 helicopters.
"This equipment was manufactured in the United States, not in Afghanistan, and was used by the Afghan army, but the ownership has always belonged to us, the Americans," - the ambassador said.
In response to the statement by the US Ambassador in Tashkent, the Ministry of Defense of the “Taliban” government stated that "the United States has no right to dispose of the property of Afghanistan and transfer it to Uzbekistan."
The Afghan Defense Ministry expects Tashkent to make a "reasonable decision" – to return the equipment to Afghanistan.
Earlier, the Uzbek authorities reported that it had been decided to return military equipment that entered the territory of the republic from Afghanistan to the US government.
It should be noted that Uzbekistan is one of the few neighboring countries of Afghanistan that maintains good political and economic relations with the “Taliban” Government. Recently, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdullah Aripov visited Afghanistan, met with several senior officials of the “Taliban” government and signed cooperation agreements worth $2.5 billion.
Will the planes remain in Tajikistan?
At the same time, 18 units of aircraft stolen from Afghanistan are awaiting their fate in Tajikistan, where Afghan pilots also fled after the “Taliban” came to power. This aircraft is still based in the republic. At least there was no information about its shipment to third countries.
On several occasions, the “Taliban” government demanded that Tajikistan return these helicopters and planes, claiming that they were the property of the Afghan people. However, American officials and former U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Mark Pommersheim argued that the U.S. has no plans to transfer this equipment to the “Taliban” because it does not belong to them.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, after Acting Afghan Defense Minister Muhammad Yaqub demanded that Tajikistan and Uzbekistan transfer helicopters and planes to the “Taliban” government, urged both countries not to return this equipment.
At the same time, the representative of the US Department of Defense noted that discussions about what will eventually be done with this fleet and where the planes and helicopters will go are still ongoing. The Commander of the US Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, also told Tajik journalists about this.
Later, Politico wrote that the United States is considering the possibility of transferring military aircraft and helicopters to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in exchange for assistance in the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan.
In turn, the leader of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, Abdurashid Dostum, called on Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to transfer planes and helicopters of the former Afghan army to the forces of the National Resistance Front (NRF) opposing the “Taliban” movement.
To date, it is unknown what decision the United States has reached regarding the planes and helicopters that arrived in Tajikistan.
The Tajik authorities confirmed the arrival of the Afghan military and pilots, but never provided official information about helicopters and airplanes.
In November 2021, more than 140 Afghan pilots who fled their homeland were sent from Dushanbe to the city of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
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