Anti-terrorist Coalition's Servicemen To Arrive In Kirgizia

It has been planned that approximately 3,000 servicemen and 40 various aircraft belonging to countries of anti-terrorist coalition will be deployed to Kirghizia before January 20. This statement was made by Deborah Klepp, the US Special Advisor on Central Asia Conflict Prevention, following the meeting with Misir Ashirkulov, the Secretary of the Kirghiz Security Council. Several 35-40-carriage trains with military equipment needed for the deployed US Air Force units, will arrive in Kirghizia within the next several weeks. It has been planned that American aircraft deployed to Manas airport outside the Kirghiz capital, will be performing up to 30 flights per 24 hours, primarily, at night in order not to hamper the traffic of civilian aircraft. By now, 155 American servicemen and 5 military transport aircraft have arrived at Manas airport. The American transport aircraft will be used to deliver humanitarian aid to the Northern provinces of Afghanistan. In line with the decision made by the Kirghiz parliament and government, all American servicemen involved in the anti-terrorist operation will be given diplomatic status similar to that of the administrative-technical personnel of the American embassy. Several more NATO member states have also addressed Kirghizia with the request to deploy their combat aircraft in the republic. All such requests are currently under consideration.