The U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Jonathan Henick, has told the Uzbek publication, Kun.uz, that the United States and Uzbekistan reached an agreement in 2021 on the fighter jets and military helicopters belonging to the army of Afghanistan that were flown by Afghan pilots from the country to Uzbekistan in 2021.
In answering the question of whether airplanes and helicopters will remain in Uzbekistan, Henick said that the “military equipment will remain in Uzbekistan; yes, it’s already official.” According to the diplomat, the parties have already started implementing a joint program in regards to the hardware.
The Ministry of National Defense of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan issued a statement regarding the opinion expressed by the U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan, stating that “Any deal regarding the fate of Afghanistan’s helicopters and planes in Uzbekistan is unacceptable”.
The Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan denied any deal had been struck, saying the United States “has no right to donate or seize Afghanistan’s property… The government of Uzbekistan is expected to refrain from any kind of transaction in this relationship and take a wise decision in consideration of good neighborly relations and cooperate in handing over the planes of the Afghan Air Force.”
According to Afghan media, before the Taliban seized power in August 2021, there were 164 warplanes, and now there are 81. Pilots from the Afghan Air Force also managed to transport planes and helicopters to Tajikistan.
Twenty-two military planes and 24 helicopters (Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, UH-60 Black Hawk, MD-530, PC-12, and Mi-17) with 585 Afghan servicemen on board crossed Uzbekistan’s airspace.
The Taliban has made several statements to the effect that these aircraft are the property of Afghanistan and should be returned. However, the Uzbek authorities have stated that the planes and helicopters are now under the jurisdiction of the United States.
This issue comes as a thorn in the side of recent good relations between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
