Ismatulla Irgashev explains why Uzbekistan does not return aircraft to the Taliban

In an interview with Voice of America, he said that aircraft equipment, which was previously hijacked by Afghan pilots from their country to Uzbekistan, belongs to the United States.

“The US government paid for them, it funded the previous Afghan government,” he said.

Ismatulla Irgashev stressed that the decision on the fate of aircraft should be made in Washington.

“We kept this military equipment under an agreement with the United States and informed the Taliban about this,” the diplomat said.

It should be recalled that after the seizure of power in Afghanistan by the Taliban, the pilots and personnel of the country’s Air Force began to leave the territory of the state en masse, flying on planes to third countries. Thus, more than 40 Afghan military planes and helicopters flew to Uzbekistan. Some of the planes also flew to Tajikistan.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Uzbekistan reported that on August 14 and 15, 2021, 22 military aircraft landed in the country, as well as 24 helicopters from Afghanistan.