Tajikistan "is going to open its airspace to US planes bombing terrorist bases in Afghanistan," a senior Japanese envoy said Monday after a meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov.
"If necessary, Tajikistan will also make its airbases available to US planes," said Muneo Suzuki, who added that US military experts were currently in the former Soviet republic examining the logistical possibility of using the bases to launch strikes on Afghanistan.
If Rakhmonov's offer is confirmed, it would be the first time that Tajikistan, which has voiced its support in principle for the US-led campaign against Afghanistan, has outlined the practical help it is ready to lend to American strikes.
"The use of Tajik bases is essential to the US deployment of ground-attack aircraft such as the A-10 tankbuster," a Western military source told AFP.
He added that such aircraft could be used for cluster bombing missions and to strike Taliban positions in the Afghan mountains.
The former Soviet republic, which shares a 1,200 kilometer border with Afghanistan would be one of the countries most vulnerable to Taliban reprisals -- DUSHANBE (AFP)
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