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Russia Denies US Military Planes Landing in Uzbekistan,Tajikistan
The Russian military denied on Monday reports that US military planes have been deployed in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to make preparations for possible strikes at the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Both the press service of Russian Air Force and the department handling military cooperation within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) said they had no information on any US planes landing in Tajikistan or Uzbekistan, Itar-tass news agency reported.
Media reports said earlier that two or three US military cargo planes S-130 landed last weekend at a military airfield outside the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, bringing there intelligence equipment and dozens of US servicemen. Similar reports on Tajikistan also appeared, but with fewer details.
The press service of Russian Air Force said the CIS air defense system is not taking part in any preparations for possible US retaliatory strikes against the Taliban. However, it said, the CIS has constantly monitored the situation in the Central Asian region.
Uzbek Presidential Press Secretary Rustam Dzhumayev on Monday told Itar-tass he had no information about the landing.
There still has no official response from Tajikistan, whose Foreign Ministry only gave a simple "no comment" answer.
The Tajik Defense Ministry confirmed the armed forces have been put in combat readiness in view of the tense situation around Afghanistan, which was accused by the US of harboring Osama bin Laden, alleged chief suspect in the September 11 terror attacks on the US.
The Tajik authorities have stepped up security measures around strategic facilities and on Tajik borders, Itar-tass reported.
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