Taliban again demands Uzbekistan to return helicopters

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the foreign minister of the Taliban interim government in Afghanistan, has once again called for the return of helicopters that were flown from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan following the collapse of the previous government. He made the remarks at a meeting convened by the Taliban foreign ministry with the participation of diplomats and international organizations.

Muttaqi also stressed the need to lift sanctions on the country and to provide assistance to earthquake victims in eastern Afghanistan.

“We ask the countries that took some of our helicopters after the political changes four years ago and handed them over to neighboring countries to return them to the Afghan people, so that they can be used in humanitarian operations,” he said.

In another part of his speech, Muttaqi addressed the issue of sanctions imposed on Afghanistan. According to him, the banking restrictions resulting from these sanctions have made it difficult for Afghans abroad to send financial aid to the country. He again urged the international community to lift sanctions on Afghanistan.

“Unfortunately, due to the unjust and illegal restrictions imposed on Afghanistan, our compatriots are unable to send aid to those affected by the earthquake,” he said.

It is worth noting that earlier, reports circulated that Uzbekistan had agreed to return the military helicopters taken out of Afghanistan when the current government collapsed in August 2021 to the Taliban interim government now in power. However, Ahror Burkhanov, a spokesman for the Uzbek Foreign Ministry, denied such claims, saying the reports were not true.

The US Department of Defense confirmed that 46 aircraft and helicopters were flown to Uzbekistan in 2021, and another 18 to Tajikistan, after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. These aircraft included Mi-17 and UH-60 helicopters, as well as PC-12, C-208, AC-208, and A-29 fixed-wing aircraft.

The Taliban have repeatedly demanded that both countries hand them over, but officials in Tashkent and Dushanbe have not made public statements in response.

The US ambassador to Uzbekistan said in an earlier statement that under the new agreement, the 46 aircraft that landed in Uzbekistan would remain under that country’s control. The US embassy in Afghanistan also thanked Tajikistan for not transferring its former Afghan military aircraft to the Taliban.

A former Afghan security chief said that before the Taliban took power, the US had supplied the Afghan air force with a total of 229 helicopters, including both combat and transport models.