Integrity Score 380
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External Actors in the Afghan Problem continues.....
TAJIKISTAN
The government of Tajikistan itself did not appear to be providing direct military assistance to United Front forces in Afghanistan. Where Tajikistan had extended assistance to the United Front forces, it had done so with a distinctly commercial flavour.
The United Front forces had contracted with Tajik Airlines, a state-owned concern, to provide servicing of United Front Mi-17 helicopters at the civil airport at Dushanbe. In addition, the Tajik authorities sold aviation fuel to the United Front at the rate of $ 400 per ton. Helicopter flights from Dushanbe to Taloqan (until Taloqan’s capture by the Taleban in September 2000), although primarily used for the carriage of civilian passengers, carried a variety of military equipments, including rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and small arms and ammunitions. Return flights from Taloqan to Dushanbe had carried seriously wounded United Front soldiers for treatment in Tajik hospitals.
On the whole, Tajikistan’s role has been more of a facilitator of military assistance from Russia and Iran intended for the United Front forces, including use of its territory by the Russian forces for expediting supply and other operations for United Front forces. The latter is done primarily from the Russian-Tajik military base and airfield at Kula.
To be continued...