The Ministry of Defense of the Islamic Emirate has strongly objected to the recent agreement between the United States and Uzbekistan concerning the transfer of Afghanistan’s military helicopters. In an audio clip, Enayatullah Khwarazmi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense, asserted that Washington has no right to hand over these helicopters to Uzbekistan.
Khwarazmi urged Uzbekistan to avoid entering into any agreements regarding this matter and to return the military equipment to Afghanistan. He highlighted that prior to the Islamic Emirate’s rise to power, Afghanistan had 164 military aircraft, of which only 81 now remain.
“The Ministry of Defense clearly declares that the United States has no right to donate or confiscate the property of the Afghan people. The government of Uzbekistan is expected to refrain from any dealings in this regard, to consider good neighborly relations, and to make a wise decision by cooperating in the return of Afghanistan’s air force aircraft,” he said.
The US Ambassador to Uzbekistan recently told Uzbekistan media that Washington and Tashkent had agreed that the military aircraft and helicopters of the former Afghan army would remain in Uzbekistan.
According to this US diplomat, the military equipment belonged to the United States and was provided to the former Afghan army for use.
Jonathan Henick, the US ambassador to Uzbekistan, said: “This equipment was never Afghan, it was American. The Afghan army used it, but we have always been the owners.”
Military analyst Mohammad Mateen Mohammadkhail said: “You know that Afghanistan does not have its own weapons. The weapons and helicopters were either left behind from the Soviet occupation or from the US occupation; therefore, these weapons belong to the people of Afghanistan.”
After the fall of the Republic in Afghanistan, 46 of Afghanistan’s military aircraft and helicopters were transferred to Uzbekistan, and some other military equipment was moved to Tajikistan, but their fate remains unknown.