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While crowds of people are invading the Kabul airport, Afghan soldiers found another way to escape from the country under the Taliban’s control. On August 14 and 15, 22 military aircraft and 24 military helicopters of the Afghan Air Force entered the airspace of Uzbekistan. 585 Afghan soldiers reportedly crossed the border in two days.
The numbers were reported by the Prosecutor General’s Office in Telegram, but the message was later deleted, according to the media.
On August 15, three Afghan military aircraft Embraer 314 requested landing at Khanabad Airport in Uzbekistan. One Afghan aircraft and a MiG-29 of Uzbekistan Air Force collided and crashed in the Sherabad district of Surkhandarya region, according to the same message in Telegram. The accident took place when Mig-29 was intercepting the foreign warplane. The pilots of these planes reportedly ejected and landed on parachutes.
No footage has been published yet to prove the reports.
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Another accident took place over Uzbekistan in the same evening. Another aircraft of Afghan Air Force crashed after entering the country’s airspace on the border with Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan reported that the aircraft was intercepted by air defense forces that stopped an attempt the aircraft to violate the border. It happened in the same Sherabad district. As a result of the incident, two soldiers on board ejected and were taken to the hospital, one of them is in serious condition.
Later, on August 16, a video of an emergency landing of the Afghan UH-60 helicopter was shared online. The helicopter with about 10 Afghan soldiers on board landed on a cotton field in Uzbekistan.
Another 158 citizens of Afghanistan, including military and civilians have recently crossed the river in the border Termez district.
Numerous military equipment was abandoned on the border crossing. The following video shows the bridge across the Amu Darya river, where the Afghan military tried to leave the country.
Uzbekistan is not the only destination for refugees from Afghanistan. The recent months, all neighbor countries faced an increase in number of Afghanistan citizens who were crossing borders, legally and illegally.
Two planes with military personnel from Afghanistan have recently landed in Tajikistan. The aircraft were allowed to land at the airport of the city of Bokhtar after having sent the SOS signals. According to the reports, more than 100 Afghan soldiers were on boards.
