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Pentagon to Boost Counter-Terrorism in Central Asia and Afghanistan
The Pentagon is planning to step its counter-terrorism efforts in Central Asia and Afghanistan if its pre-solicitation notice for an anti-terrorism training compound near Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan, gets a green light. Citing Bill Roggio, a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the editor of The Long War Journal website, Eurasianet.org reports that the military infrastructure investments aim to counter a growing threat to northern Afghanistan. According to Eurasianet.org, Washington’s plans for Central Asia may dovetail with growing calls from Moscow to stem drug trafficking in the region. But some analysts caution that the US-Russian regional rivalry still precludes substantive cooperation north of Afghanistan’s borders.
If implemented, the facility in southern Kyrgyzstan would be just a fraction of the size, both physically and financially, of a planned Special Operations complex, along with aviation facilities, in Mazar-i-Sharif, northern Afghanistan’s main population center. According to Roggio, the planned military infrastructure could also counter a threat from Iran and serves as some sort of a forward-defense strategy designed to relieve growing international pressure on Tehran connected with the ongoing controversy over its nuclear program.
Experts say the projects are key elements in a strategic plan to check an expected upsurge in violence in northern Afghanistan and Central Asia. A formal request for proposals will be issued on or about August 2, even though the Kyrgyz Ministry of Defense maintains it knows nothing about the training compound. “We are not working with [the United States] in that regard. We don’t have and didn’t have any negotiations with the United States,” Murat Ashirbekov, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said. Full article: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/61572
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