DUSHANBE
, May 11, Asia-Plus –
France
is temporarily increasing its military presence in
Tajikistan
. Three Mirage fighters and additional more than 100 military personnel will arrive in
Tajikistan
on May 19.
Jerome Malard (phonetically spelled), Defense Attach? at the French Embassy in Dushanbe, has told Asia-Plus that thereby the number of French military personnel deployed at the Dushanbe airport will increase to some 250. At the same time, Malard refrained from commenting on reasons for sending additional Mirage fighters to
Tajikistan
.
“Ongoing operations of international antiterrorist coalition in
Afghanistan
are a part of general strategy of the fight against international terrorism,” Malard said, noting that 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
.
