Afghan Defence minister urges Uzbekistan, Tajikistan to return military helicopters

Kabul [Afghanistan], January 14 (ANI): Afghan Defence Minister Maulana Yaqoob urged Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to return military helicopters which were flown to their countries by Afghan pilots during the last days of the government of former Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani.
Yaqoob said that Afghanistan request the Uzbekistan and Tajikistan governments to return our planes and helicopters, according to Frontier Post.
"Although we are poor but we have our pride and integrity and therefore we can not allow other countries to have our helicopters in their countries," he added.
Yaqoob's comments have opened a new pandora box, giving widespread speculations about the role of Central Asian States in the coming days. At one point there were speculations that Uzbekistan has disconnected the electricity which goes from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan, according to Frontier Post.
On the other hand, US options in the region include striking a deal with one of these Central Asian States with regard to providing a military base so that Washington could conduct its "over the horizon" strikes.
Further, by having military bases in Tajikistan, the US will hope to continue its operations through Special Forces against the Taliban regime along with the help of ethnic Tajikistan based in Afghanistan. (ANI)