France posts 50 troops to US air base in Kyrgyzstan
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-08-03 10:25

France has posted 50 troops at a US air base in Kyrgyzstan to support security operations before the September 18 parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, a French diplomat said on Tuesday.

The troops, who arrived in the past week, plan to stay at the Manas base outside the capital Bishkek till November 6, the Interfax news agency quoted the consulate official as saying.

France has also sent two refueling aircraft to the air base for operational security reasons, the official added.

Since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001, the United States and several of its allies have deployed troops at air bases in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The Manas base hosts about 1,000 US and Spanish troops to support combat and humanitarian missions in Afghanistan.

Authorities in neighboring Uzbekistan demanded on Friday that US troops pull out of an air base in the country's south within 180 days.

US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld returned this week from a visit to Central Asia, where he won assurances from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan that Washington can continue to use their bases for operations in Afghanistan.

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