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U.S. to use Tajik airfield

Published 9:00 pm Monday, November 12, 2001

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon, hoping to intensify pressure on the Taliban, has decided to put military aircraft at one or more airfields in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan on Afghanistan’s northern border, a senior defense official said Monday.

The decision on the Tajik base follows an onsite assessment by U.S. military advisers of the feasibility of using as many as three Tajik airfields. The Tajik government had offered the bases for U.S. use against Afghanistan, and the decision to go ahead could mean more Air Force fighter-bombers will be sent there soon.

The U.S. defense official, who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity, said it was not yet clear how much local improvement would be needed before the airfield could be put to use. The official was not certain which airfield was chosen out of three offered: Kulyab, Khojand and Kurgan-Tyube.

The U.S. military already is using one airfield in Uzbekistan, where at least 1,000 soldiers of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division are based.

The significance of using one or more airfields in Tajikistan is twofold: It offers a chance to fly shorter attack missions in support of anti-Taliban forces, possibly offering some relief to Navy pilots who have been flying long missions from carriers, and, secondly, it offers an opportunity to expand the delivery of humanitarian relief to Afghans.

In other developments:

  • With a crew of about 5,500, the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis set sail from San Diego on Monday to support the military action in Afghanistan. The Stennis will replace the USS Carl Vinson, which is returning to Bremerton from the Arabian Sea south of Pakistan, a Navy said.

  • The American Red Cross, under fire since it announced last month that not all money collected for a Sept. 11 fund would go to victims of terror attacks, said it will return donations to any contributor who requests a refund.

  • Two French radio reporters and a German magazine journalist were killed when they came under Taliban fire while traveling with opposition troops, their employers and colleagues said on Monday.

    Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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