![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() by AFP Staff Writers Tashkent (AFP) Aug 17, 2021
Uzbekistan said that it was in close contact with the Taliban on Tuesday and warned it would "strictly suppress" any attempts to violate its borders after chaos from Afghanistan spilled over into Central Asia. Ex-Soviet Uzbekistan, one of three Central Asian countries bordering Afghanistan, released the statement after days of mayhem that saw Afghan troops illegally cross over into the republic while fleeing the Taliban's advance amid the pullout of US-led forces. The ministry said it was in talks with the Taliban "on issues of ensuring the protection of borders and maintaining calm in the border zone". Central Asian countries have watched with alarm as the government in Kabul collapsed in a matter of days, empowering a militant group that several states in the region helped to unseat two decades ago. Uzbekistan on Monday confirmed that an Afghan military plane had crashed in the country's south on Sunday after it illegally crossed the border, noting that nobody had died during the incident. A day earlier Uzbekistan said it had detained 84 Afghan troops that crossed into its territory while fleeing the Taliban. The country's state prosecutor retracted a Monday statement which claimed that Uzbekistan had forced 46 Afghan aircraft carrying nearly 600 soldiers to land after crossing the border over the weekend. The prosecutor noted the initial statement was "not based on official verified information from the authorities". - Russia, China hold drills - An AFP correspondent that visited the crash site in Uzbekistan's Sherabad district some 180 kilometres (110 miles) from the border city of Termez witnessed trucks carting away plane debris that had been cleared from a large expanse of scorched earth by soldiers. Local resident Shokosim Turdiyev told AFP that a barn where his family kept livestock and feed had been burned down by flames from the crash, which he said happened on Sunday night. "Local residents called the ambulances and then the soldiers came," Turdiyev added, recalling hearing a "large explosion" after the planes had fallen to the earth. Police did not allow journalists to film at the site. A doctor in the city of Termez, Bekpulat Okboyev, told AFP that two Afghans being treated by his hospital from Sunday night onwards had been "injured while ejecting" from a plane -- but were not in a serious condition. Neighbouring Tajikistan said Tuesday that it had allowed more than 100 Afghan military members to land at Bokhtar airport in the south of the country after receiving an SOS signal. The Tajik interior ministry said it will be holding joint military exercises with China to "combat terrorism in mountainous areas" from August 17 to 20. Around 1,000 Russian soldiers stationed at Moscow's base in Tajikistan were also holding exercises, Russia's Central Military District said on Tuesday. Impoverished Tajikistan this month complained of a build up of "terrorist groups" along its 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border with Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of the frontier.
![]() ![]() Weapon seizures 'massive boon' for Taliban as cities fall Kabul (AFP) Aug 14, 2021 The United States spent billions supplying the Afghan military with the tools to defeat the Taliban, but the rapid capitulation of the armed forces means that weaponry is now fuelling the insurgents' astonishing battlefield successes. "We provided our Afghan partners with all the tools - let me emphasise: all the tools," US President Joe Biden said when defending his decision to withdraw American forces and leave the fight to the locals. But Afghan defence forces have shown little appetite for ... read more
![]() |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |