Aircraft Afghans’ Property, Uzbekistan Should Return

After the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and the collapse of their supported regime, tens of aircraft have been hijacked by the so-called republic government’s former officials to the neighboring country of Uzbekistan.

Since its return to power in mid-August 2021, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has persistently asked Uzbek authorities to return the aircraft, including military helicopters, but the neighboring country has yet to respond positively, The Caspian Post informs via Kabul Times.

The Islamic Emirate with the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar and Foreign Affairs Minister Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi once again called on Uzbekistan to return the aircrafts so to be used in the transfer of any possible natural disaster victims and supplying humanitarian aid to the people affected by the earthquakes, similar to what happened in Kunar and its neighborhood provinces recently.

According to reports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan again denied returning the military helicopters and aircraft and any agreements between the two countries regarding the issue.

A spokesperson for the Uzbek Foreign Ministry stressed to domestic media that Tashkent’s position on this matter has not changed and described the reports as baseless.

Earlier, some reports had suggested that Uzbekistan had agreed to return Afghanistan’s helicopters and military planes, something Akhror Burkhanov, spokesperson for the Uzbek Foreign Ministry, rejected as saying, “These reports do not correspond to reality. Uzbekistan’s position remains unchanged. This is fake news.”

It’s to be noted that the hijacked aircraft are the property of the Afghan people and they need them when facing unwanted incidents such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, etc, but the Uzbek side frequently denied the proposal.

On the other hand, the helicopters were transferred by former traitor officials to Uzbekistan from Afghanistan, not from the United States, which is pressuring Uzbekistan not to return them to the country. So, Uzbekistan has no right to hand over these helicopters unilaterally to the United States or keep them in its territory, as the return of military helicopters and aircraft that were transferred to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan during the fall of the former government has been a repeated demand of the Islamic Emirate over the past four years.

Afghanistan is in urgent need of these helicopters and planes and needs them to be used in rescue operations.