Uzbekistan’s MFA calls reports on helicopter transfer to Afghanistan “fake news”

MFA spokesperson Ahror Burkhanov dismissed the reports in Afghan media claiming that Uzbekistan had agreed to return 57 military helicopters to Afghanistan.

“These reports do not correspond to reality. Uzbekistan’s position remains unchanged – this is fake news,” he said.

On September 8, Afghanistan International, citing its sources, reported that “57 helicopters that once belonged to the former Afghan army will be transferred back.”

On September 11, The Kabul Times, citing Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, wrote that Uzbekistan had agreed to return 57 military helicopters to Afghanistan.

“The handover of 57 military helicopters is expected to take place in the near future, marking a significant step in restoring Afghanistan’s air capabilities and boosting ties between the two neighboring countries,” the paper quoted Mujahid as saying.

Background

As part of their 20-year military campaign in Afghanistan, the United States and its allies supplied the Afghan government with a large number of aircraft and helicopters. In August 2021, during the Taliban takeover of Kabul, 22 military aircraft and 24 helicopters (Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, UH-60 Black Hawk, MD-530, PC-12, and Mi-17) carrying 585 armed Afghan servicemen entered Uzbekistan’s airspace. In September and November that year, the pilots were transferred first to the UAE and later to the US.

Afghanistan’s interim government has repeatedly emphasized that the aircraft belong to Afghanistan. Uzbek officials, however, have maintained that the planes and helicopters were US property and could not be returned.

In September 2022, Politico reported that the US government, as part of efforts to “deepen cooperation in border security and counterterrorism,” might transfer some of the aircraft and helicopters taken out of Afghanistan to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

In August 2024, US Ambassador to Tashkent Jonathan Henick said that the equipment was being transferred to Uzbekistan, stressing that “these aircraft never belonged to the Afghans.” “They were American. The Afghan army used them, but we were always the owner,” the diplomat said.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense objected to the transfer of the aircraft to Uzbekistan.