Afghan Air Force pilots evacuated to United Arab Emirates.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, WASHINGTON – Pilot Afghanistan US-trained and other personnel began leaving Uzbekistan on Sunday (12/9).
They fled to Uzbekistan since Taliban took over Afghanistan on 15 August.
The move is expected to take place in waves, starting on Sunday (13/9).
A pilot who spoke on condition of anonymity said the first batch would fly to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Afghan air force pilots had fled to Uzbekistan in mid-August. They fled on board 46 Afghan Air Force aircraft, including A-29 light attack aircraft and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
Reuters revealed that while in Uzbekistan the pilots were worried that they would be repatriated to Afghanistan and killed by the Taliban.
Former office United States of America told Reuters that the Taliban pressured Uzbekistan to hand over Afghan Air Force planes and personnel.
The former US ambassador to Uzbekistan, John Herbst, said the United States was indebted to the Afghan pilots.
“We have a plan to make sure the planes they brought from Afghanistan go back to the United States and don’t go back to the Taliban,” Herbst said.
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Since regaining control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have promised to grant amnesty and not retaliate.
But the Taliban’s promise sounded hollow to Afghan pilots. Even before the Taliban took control of Kabul, English-speaking Afghan-trained pilots had been the militant group’s main target. The Taliban fighters tracked down and killed several Afghan-trained pilots.
In the Uzbekistan camp, near the city of Termez, the pilots described their conditions as prisoners. Their movement was severely restricted, and supplies of food and medicine were insufficient.
Their hopes began to emerge about a week ago, when US officials arrived in Uzbekistan to conduct biometric checks on Afghan citizens.
Most of them fled with nothing and only a piece of clothing attached to their bodies.
The Taliban did not comment on the situation in Uzbekistan. The Taliban seized planes, including helicopters and drones while Afghan forces were in power.
The Taliban have called for the return of planes flown abroad before they seized power in Kabul.
Afghanistan’s new rulers have said they will invite former military personnel to join the country’s new security forces. The Taliban guarantees that they will do no harm.
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