President Hamid Karzai announced on Monday that the United States would give Afghanistan its own fleet of unmanned surveillance aircraft and would speed up the handover of detainees held by American forces.
It was his first public comments since returning from a visit to Washington.Mr. Karzai said repeatedly that the meetings in Washington had yielded nearly everything his country hoped for, including the promised end to raids conducted by foreign forces in Afghan homes and villages. He and President Obama held a joint news conference on Friday announcing an accelerated turnover of security responsibility to Afghan forces next year, the end of foreign raids by spring and the handover of detainees still under American control.
Mr. Karzai’s comments at the news conference were the first mention of American UAS going to the Afghan government. Afghan officials have long asked for them, along with an upgraded fleet of aircraft.
Though Mr. Karzai took pains to note that the UAS would be unarmed, such aircraft could significantly help the Afghan forces’ reconnaissance and surveillance abilities. Spy drones have been a crucial part of efforts to track down Taliban insurgents in the country and watch over coalition forces in the field. But the aircraft have been operated strictly by Western forces.
“They will train Afghans to fly them, use them and maintain them,” Mr. Karzai said, though he did not specify how many would be handed over. “Besides drones, Afghanistan will be provided with other intelligence gathering equipment which will be used to defend and protect our air and ground sovereignty.”
In addition to the UAS, Mr. Karzai said, he was promised another 20 helicopters and at least four C-130 transport planes.
As of Monday afternoon, American officials would not detail any agreements reached on the number or type of aircraft that will go to the Afghan government, other than to say that discussions were still under way.
Photo: S. Sabawoon/European Pressphoto Agency
Source: NY Times