Uzbekistan Denies Reports of Returning Helicopters to Afghanistan

DID Press: Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied reports the country plans to return helicopters to Afghanistan.

On September 10, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban caretaker government, announced that Uzbekistan agreed to hand back helicopters that were flown into the country during the fall of Kabul.

“The transfer of 57 helicopters will take place soon,” he said, describing it as a step toward rebuilding Afghanistan’s air force and strengthening relations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

However, Uzbek Foreign Ministry swiftly rejected these remarks.

Akhror Burkhanov, spokesman for Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry, said reports of an agreement to return the helicopters “baseless.”

He descrubed the report as “fake news” and stressed that Uzbekistan’s position on the matter has not changed.