All news

Afghan servicemen in Uzbekistan evacuated to another country, says foreign ministry

Earlier, it was reported that in mid-August, Uzbekistan’s airspace was illegally crossed by 22 planes and 24 helicopters of the Afghan government forces, in which there were over 500 Afghan servicemen who fled from the Taliban
Highway toward the border between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan AP Photo/Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska
Highway toward the border between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan
© AP Photo/Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska

TASHKENT, September 13. / TASS /. Uzbekistan evacuated to another country a group of Afghan servicemen and civilians, who were detained in August for illegal border-crossing, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yusup Kabulzhanov told TASS on Monday.

"Amid the well-known events in Afghanistan, a group of former military personnel and some Afghan residents crossed the state border of Uzbekistan and were detained. From September 12 to 13, all Afghan citizens in Uzbekistan were evacuated to another country," the diplomat stated.

Earlier, it was reported that in mid-August, Uzbekistan’s airspace was illegally crossed by 22 planes and 24 helicopters of the Afghan government forces, in which there were over 500 Afghan servicemen who fled from the Taliban (banned in Russia). While escorting the air intruders, an Uzbek MiG-29 and an Afghan Embraer 314 collided. The pilots managed to eject and survived.

Other aircraft landed at the airport in Termez, located 11-13 km from the Uzbek-Afghan border. After identification and other mandatory procedures, the Afghans were placed in an isolated area of the COVID-19 center. According to a source in Termez, all servicemen who fled to Uzbekistan were officers of units led by the only Afghan Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum.