Coalition troops 'prepare Tajik bases'

US: more prominent in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan

By the BBC's Monica Whitlock in Dushanbe

The first clear evidence has emerged that the United States and European military are operating in Tajikistan, Afghanistan's immediate neighbour to the north.

Sources in the Tajik defence ministry say a party of Italian pilots and engineers has arrived in Dushanbe to prepare two airports to be used as bases for operations in Afghanistan.

Tajikistan has so far played a crucial role in the Afghan war as the conduit for Russian supplies to northern Afghanistan, but there have only ever been rumours of a United States presence here.

According to defence ministry sources, an Italian air force plane landed at Dushanbe on Sunday night bringing a party of 16 - both pilots and engineers.

They were apparently there to make ready two airports - one at Dushanbe, the other at Kulab in southern Tajikistan right on the Afghan border.

The plan is said to be for 35 US and Italian helicopters and planes to fly in to create a base for operations in Afghanistan.

This is the first solid piece of news about US engagement here.

Cloaked in secrecy

It follows anecdotal evidence that some US forces arrived in Kulab about two weeks ago.

One reliable source said he saw US officers walking in the small town near the airbase there, and new checkpoints have appeared on the Kulab road.

Goings-on at Kulab are generally cloaked in secrecy.

It backs onto the heartland of the Tajik-dominated part of the anti-Taleban Northern Alliance. For about five years, supplies have reached the alliance through this route.

Most of these have been from Russia, but some have also come from Iran.

Airports are key for access in this hostile region

At one point there were frequent flights from Kulab to the Iranian city of Mashaad.

The coming of the Americans adds a new factor to the political balance of Central Asia.

Until now, the US has been much more prominent in Uzbekistan and adjacent Afghan territory around the town of Mazar-e-Sharif than in Tajikistan.

Some people will wonder what they are here to do.

The part of Afghanistan accessible from Kulab could not be further from Taleban-held areas and, though it is still useful as a supply route, there are already United Nations planes flying humanitarian aid from Kulab every day.