U.S. defense secretary says he is concerned for Afghan pilots held in
Tajikistan
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[September 30, 2021]
By Phil Stewart and Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary
Lloyd Austin expressed concern on Wednesday for U.S.-trained Afghan
pilots and other personnel being held in Tajikistan after fleeing across
the border from Afghanistan last month as the Taliban took power.
Reuters exclusively reported first-person accounts from U.S.-trained
Afghan personnel being held at a sanatorium in a mountainous, rural area
outside of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, waiting and hoping for over a
month for transfer by the United States.
Among the 143 Afghans there is a pilot at an advanced stage of
pregnancy.
Speaking to Austin at a hearing in Congress, Republican Representative
Austin Scott expressed frustration with delays in getting the pilots out
of Tajikistan, given U.S. promises during the two-decade-old war that
America would stand by them.
Austin appeared aware of the issue and sympathetic.
"We will get with State (Department officials) right away to see if we
can move this forward. I share your concerns," Austin said.
Austin's remarks came during a hearing about the U.S. withdrawal from
Afghanistan and the Taliban's victory. In the war's final moments, the
U.S.-backed Afghan Air Force personnel flew dozens of military aircraft
across the Afghan border to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and were detained
there.
It is unclear what will happen to the aircraft. Scott said it was vital
that both countries knew those aircraft could not be returned to the
Taliban.
"I would appreciate it if we could put that in writing to both of those
countries that the equipment belongs to the U.S. - not to Afghanistan,"
Scott said.
"NO ASSISTANCE"
The pilots who flew across the border hoped to join the other Afghan
military personnel being processed for U.S. visas in places like the
United Arab Emirates and Germany.
Scott appeared to pile blame on the U.S. State Department and appealed
for help from Austin as well as General Mark Milley, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central
Command.
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin responds to questions during
a House Armed Services Committee hearing on "Ending the U.S.
Military Mission in Afghanistan" in the Rayburn House Office
Building in Washington, U.S., September 29, 2021. Rod Lamkey/Pool
via REUTERS
"We have gotten no assistance at all from the State
Department to move them. And I'm asking all three of you for your
help in addressing the issue," Scott said.
He also expressed frustration with the time it took to get Afghan
pilots out of Uzbekistan. Reuters was first to disclose conditions
there and the pilots' departure earlier this month from Uzbekistan
to the United Arab Emirates.
Some of the English-speaking pilots in Uzbekistan had feared they
could be sent back by the Uzbeks to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and
killed for inflicting so many Taliban casualties during the war.
"We had people in Uzbekistan - the State Department ignored them as
well and said they would get to them when they got to 'em," he said.
Afghanistan's new rulers have said they will invite former military
personnel to join the country's revamped security forces and that
they will come to no harm.
That offer rings hollow to Afghan pilots who spoke with Reuters.
Even before the Taliban takeover, the U.S.-trained, English-speaking
pilots had become their prime targets. Taliban fighters tracked down
a number of them and assassinated them off-base.
"We have a lady in Tajikistan that's nine months pregnant. That's
one of our pilots. And we need help removing them," Scott said.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Patricia Zengerle, Editing by Rosalba
O'Brien)
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