French military contingent to leave Tajikistan in summer
DUSHANBE. May 7 (Interfax-AVN) - France's Air Force contingent will leave Tajikistan within the next two months, the French Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The step-by-step withdrawal of the French operating transport group (GTO), deployed at Dushanbe International Airport (DYU), started on April 15 this year. It will be completed before July 1, 2013," the ministry said.
GTO has been deployed at Dushanbe's airport since the end of 2001, when U.S.-led NATO forces launched a counterterrorist operation in neighboring Afghanistan. All NATO forces are expected to leave Afghanistan in 2014.
"GTO in Tajikistan has flown almost 11,000 missions in support of French soldiers in Afghanistan, which accounts for 60% of all of the French air missions to this country," the ministry said.
As many as 89,000 French soldiers and 14,500 tonnes of supplies have been transported across Tajik territory since 2001. The French contingent in Tajikistan has ranged from 150 to 300 servicemen at different periods.
In exchange for Tajikistan's permission for GTO operations, France agreed in May 2009 to build a new passenger airport in the Tajik capital and granted a low-interest loan of 36 million euro to fund the project. The new airport is expected to begin operating in late 2014.
