DUSHANBE, July 10, 2012, Asia-Plus – Seven of twelve crew members of two helicopters belonging to Tajik national air carrier, Tajik Air, that have been held by the Afghan authorities for already two months recently returned home.
Flight engineer Ilhom Qayumov told Asia-Plus by phone that the remaining five pilots, including him, have still been held by the Afghan authorities. “They have been holding us in a home on the outskirts of Kabul for nearly two months,” said Qayumov, “They took our passports, and therefore, we cannot move along the city freely.”
He also noted that that the Tajik Embassy in Kabul was seeking solution to their problem. “Director general of Tajik Air and deputy minister of transport of Tajikistan are expected to arrive in Kabul in the near future,” Qayumov said.
We will recall that some media sources reported on June 28 that the Afghanistan authorities have been holding two Tajik state-owned helicopters and their 12 crew members for a month.
“The helicopters worked in Afghanistan under contract and they were supposed to return home a month ago, but they were detained by the Afghan Ministry of Transport of Afghanistan,” flight engineer Ilhom Qayumov told journalists on June 28.
According to him, the reasons behind the detention of the two Mi-8 helicopters belonging to Tajik national air carrier and their crews are unclear. “The helicopters were allegedly going to leave the Kabul airport without preliminary permission of the control service of the Kabul airport,” Qayumov said.
The Afghan transport ministry has since withdrawn its charges and handed control to Afghanistan’s ministry of defense and security service. The defense ministry has not provided any justifications for their continued detention, he said.
Meanwhile, Tajik national air carrier, Tajik Air, has denied report about detention of its helicopters in Afghanistan as unfounded.
A statement released by Tajik Air on June 30, in particular, says that two Mi-8 MTV helicopters are working in Afghanistan under contract with a company dealing with procurement of non-military equipment for NATO forces in Afghanistan.
“Because of economic debates that arose between the employer and the Ministry of Transport of Afghanistan activities of more than 30 crews, including representatives of Tajikistan, Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Colombia, have been suspended,” the statement said, noting the crew members were not detained and they are still on business in Afghanistan and freely moving along Kabul.
The Mi-8 is a medium-sized twin-turbine transportation aircraft. It is the most widely used helicopter in the world and operates in more than 50 countries. The Mi-8, known by NATO as Hip, can also be converted into a gunship.
