Taliban threatens Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to return aircraft and helicopters of the Afghan airforce

Kabul: – Defence Minister in the Taliban regime, Yaqoob Mujahid, threatened Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to return all the airplanes and helicopters of the Afghan air force. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan should not test the patience of the Taliban for this. Otherwise, the Taliban will take the necessary action to get its airplanes back.’

161 fighter jets and helicopters were operational in the Afghan air force. These included Brazilian made light-weight A-29 Tucano fighter jets and US-made Black Hawk helicopters. The Afghan government extensively used these fighter jets and helicopters in the actions against the Taliban. But last year, in August, when the Taliban started advancing towards Kabul, the Afghan pilots fled along with their colleagues and families to the neighbouring countries in these airplanes. It is claimed that these pilots took nearly 80 aircraft and helicopters to the neighbouring countries, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Even the Afghan soldiers fled to Iran in dozens of US-made Humvee military vehicles.

Taliban has started moves to recover these aeroplanes and helicopters that are Afghan property. The Defence Minister in the Taliban regime, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, threatened Tajikistan and Uzbekistan while addressing a function in Kabul. Mullah Yaqoob warned that both these neighbouring countries should return the Afghan airplanes and helicopters without creating any obstacles and avoid action by the Taliban.

At the same time, Yaqoob appealed that the pilots and engineers from the Afghan air force should return to Afghanistan. Yaqoob assured that all these people are the pride of Afghanistan. They will be honourably included in the Afghan air force. Even earlier, the Taliban had appealed to the former Afghan soldiers to surrender and return to their commands. But reports of the killing of these soldiers had been received from certain locations. Therefore, the Afghan population, soldiers and former leaders are not willing to trust Taliban.

After taking over Afghanistan, the Taliban is building a defence force with a hundred thousand personnel. Taliban has formed its 313 Badri Battalion, on the lines of special forces. Whereas the Taliban spokesman announced the formation of a battalion of suicide bombers to assist the special forces. Taliban warned that this battalion would be assigned the responsibility to carry out attacks in the countries posing a security challenge to Afghan security. Against this background, the threat issued by the Taliban to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan has become very serious.

Meanwhile, National Resistance Front (NRF) announced that Ahmed Masood met a Taliban Commander in Iran. NRF said that he demanded an all-inclusive government in Afghanistan. But the Taliban said that the proposal is not acceptable to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the chief of the Haqqani group, the most influential faction in the Taliban.