A total of 585 Afghan soldiers have arrived on aircraft and 158 more crossed the border on foot on Sunday, the Uzbek prosecutor general’s office said in a statement, reported Reuters.
Uzbekistan said 46 Afghan aircraft carrying 585 troops were ‘forcibly landed’ at Termez aiport in southern Uzbekistan at the weekend after they fled the Taliban
One of the Afghan military planes that crossed the border was shot down by Uzbekistan’s air defence system on Sunday
The two pilots in the military were reportedly injured and placed in custody. Uzbekistan has held high-level talks with the Taliban on security and the future of regional infrastructure projects.
The 46 Afghan aircrafts carrying 585 troops were ‘forcibly landed’ at Termez aiport in southern Uzbekistan on Saturday and Sunday after they had fled the Taliban, the country’s state prosecutor said.
One of the Afghan military planes that crossed the border was shot down by Uzbekistan’s air defence system on Sunday after it illegally entered the country’s air space, the Uzbek defense ministry said.
Later in a statement, the Uzbek Defense Ministry stated that their air defense forces intercepted and shot down Afghan military aircraft that violated their airspace. The ministry confirmed in a statement that two pilots ejected before the jet crashed and survived.
At least 143 former Afghan security forces members fled to Tajikistan in three planes and two helicopters, according to Tajikistan’s Ozodi Radio.
When Taliban troops overran Afghanistan’s northern region Mazar-i-Sharif on Sunday, at least 84 Afghan border guards and former Vice President Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum fled to Uzbekistan, local Uzbek media.
The swift takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban movement prevented any country from planning scheduled avocations for its residents in the war-torn country.
President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan issued a statement on Monday directing authorities to contact and collaborate with Kyrgyz nationals stranded in Afghanistan and make plans for their early evacuation from the war-torn country.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijan Defense Ministry said on Monday that the 120 Azeri soldiers stationed and serving alongside the Turkish army at Hamid Karzai International Airport to provide security are safe and will continue to fulfill their responsibility.
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