DUSHANBE
, May 19, Asia-Plus — Two transport aircraft of French Air Force with 250 military personnel on board landed at the
Dushanbe
airport today morning. Thereby French military contingent deployed in
Tajikistan
has increased to 400, according to information from the French Embassy in
Dushanbe
.
Besides, three French Mirage-200 jetfighters are expected to arrive in
Dushanbe
today evening. The jets will replace six that were withdrawn from
Tajikistan
in November 2005. The additional military personnel will stay in
Tajikistan
till September-October this year.
As it had been reported earlier, six Mirage fighters stayed in
Tajikistan
from August to November last year to provide security in
Afghanistan
during the September 18 parliamentary elections in that country.
France
removed those six fighters and 250 military personnel from
Tajikistan
on
November 9 2005
, retaining 150 servicemen and two transport aircraft at the
Dushanbe
airport.
The French military contingent has been stationed in
Tajikistan
since 2001, when the antiterrorist operation was launched in
Afghanistan
. The French military contingent will stay in
Tajikistan
until the situation in neighboring
Afghanistan
remains unstable. One of the main missions of the French military contingent stationed in
Tajikistan
is in providing assistance in shipping humanitarian cargoes to
Afghanistan
.
