Tajik Foreign Ministry Denies Reports About Possible US Operation Against Afghanistan From Bases In Tajikistan

The director of the Information Department of Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry, Igor Sattarov, has denied a CNN report which on Tuesday cited sources in the Pentagon as saying that the United States may begin a ground operation against Afghanistan from Tajik bases. Sattarov said such reports were absolutely groundless. The conducting of U.S. ground operations against Afghanistan from the territory of Tajikistan was not discussed with the country's leadership, the Secretary of Tajikistan's Security Council, Amirkul Azimov, told journalists on Tuesday upon completion of an extraordinary meeting of the secretaries of CIS security councils. Azimov said Tajikistan is ready to cooperate with the United States in combating international terrorism, up to offering its air space to the U.S. Air Force. However, this does not mean that Dushanbe has allowed the U.S.A. to conduct its ground operations from Tajik territory, Azimov said.