Kabul – Almost 150 pilots and crew of an Afghan army plane are in prison in Tajikistan, US media have reported.
The New York Times reported on Sunday, (November 7) that at least 143 Afghan army pilots and co-pilots who had flown to Tajikistan on the day of the collapse were being detained in the country.
One of the pilots arrested in Tajikistan told the media that several thousand pilots, crew members, and other Afghan Air Force personnel are currently hiding and feeling abandoned by the US military.
According to him, now these pilots and aircrew and their families are hidden and are in serious danger.
“We trusted the US military and government to help us get us out of this situation,” the pilots told the New York Times.
In addition, a former member of the country’s air force told the New York Times in a telephone call that he had worked with the US forces for five years and that he and his colleagues were now forgotten by the US.
“We noticed that there is no plan by the US to do anything to get these people out,” General David Hicks, an Afghan Army Air Force instructor said.
The US Department of State, meanwhile, has said it is in regular contact with the Tajik government to withdraw former Afghan Army pilots on schedule.
In the meantime, on the first day of the Taliban’s arrival in Kabul, about 150 pilots flew to Tajikistan with their planes and were detained by Tajik forces.
