The defense minister of the Taliban transitional government demanded that the governments of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan return to Afghanistan military planes that flew to the two countries during the chaotic fall of Afghanistan into the hands of the fundamentalists in August.
Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid stressed that the Taliban regime would not allow the planes and helicopters – used by the Western-backed government – to remain outside the country.
“Do not test our patience and do not force us to retaliate by whatever means we have at our disposal,” the minister added. “We tolerated a lot, we waited a lot.”
He also demanded that pilots serving in the previous government’s air force return to the country and join the Taliban armed forces.
In a public statement, Taliban aviation chief Amanuddin Mansour said the regime had about 50 operational aircraft at its disposal and was working to repair several more.
As the army and the previous government collapsed, dozens of Air Force planes flew into Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by US-trained pilots.
Taliban spokesman Inamullah Samangani recently told TOLOnews that talks were under way with the authorities of those countries on the return of the planes and helicopters.
Washington had spent billions of dollars equipping and training the Afghan PA.
Before the previous government collapsed, it had 131 operational aircraft out of 162 in its fleet, according to a report by the Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a US-independent congressional body.
In October, SIGAR reported that about 25 percent of Afghan aircraft flew to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and another 80 were rendered useless at Kabul International Airport before the US military withdrew.
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