Negotiations between the Uzbekistan and the United States on the fate of the aircraft and helicopters that were delivered to Uzbekistan from Afghanistan in August 2021 are still ongoing. The US Ambassador to Tashkent, Jonathan Henick told the Gazeta.uz on Wednesday.

“I can only say that we continue to work with the government of Uzbekistan on the issue of the final location of these aircraft. We will announce this,” the diplomat said.

To the clarifying question whether the aircraft were still in the Surkhandarya province, he answered in the affirmative.

Surkhandarya province governor Ulugbek Kosimov, in response to a similar question from a Gazeta.uz on October 17, said that he was not entitled to comment on the matter and that information about this should be requested from the Ministry of Defense.

The United States and its allies provided the Afghan government with a large number of aircraft as part of the 20-year military campaign in Afghanistan. During the assault of Kabul by the Taliban in August 2021, 22 military aircraft and 24 helicopters (Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, UH-60 Black Hawk, MD-530, PC-12 and Mi-17) illegally crossed the airspace of Uzbekistan. There were 585 armed Afghan military personnel.

The Afghan caretaker government has repeatedly insisted that the aircraft were Afghan property. Uzbek authorities stated that the planes and helicopters were US property and cannot be returned.

Last September, Politico reported that US authorities could transfer some of their military aircraft and helicopters delivered from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in exchange for an informal agreement to “deepen relations in the areas of border security and the fight against terrorism.”