Ahmadi added that the three radar systems will be installed in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif….reports Asian Lite News
The Taliban-led Afghan government has announced that three radar systems will be installed to controlling the airspace and for tracking civil and military planes, the media reported.
In a statement on Tuesday, Imamuddin Ahmadi, a spokesman of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, said that a total of 12 radar systems valued at 112 million euros were bought from France, of which three have been dispatched to Kabul and the remaining nine will arrive in the future, reports TOLO News.
Ahmadi added that the three radar systems will be installed in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif.
“The installation is ongoing, and the systems, equipped with the latest modern technology, might start operating within one and a half months,” TOLO News quoted the spokesman as saying.
Meanwhile, a number of economic analysts said the modern radar systems will increase the international airlines’ trust in Afghanistan which will result in an increase in air traffic and thus an spike in the country’s income.
“This can lead to an increase in air traffic in Afghanistan’s airspace and it can become a good revenue source,” Abdul Nasir Reshtia, an economic analyst, told TOLO News.
Russia’s concerns
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s concerns over lack of security on Afghanistan’s borders with Central Asian countries has drawn a response from the Taliban who said that there is no threat from Afghanistan’s borders to regional countries.
A spokesperson of the Taliban Inamullah Samangani reacted and said that there is neither potential nor a de facto threat from Afghanistan’s border to any other country, reported Khaama Press.
Putin said on Monday that the security situation at the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border is a concern.
The Russian President in a visit to Tajikistan met with Tajikistan’s President Imam Ali Rahman and said that Russia is seeking to mitigate security threats by strengthening its military base in Tajikistan with weapons and other equipment, reported Tolo News.
“You know that we’re actively working toward enhancing Tajikistan’s defense capability. In keeping with our agreements, some essential weapons and hardware have been delivered lately in line with our agreements to bolster Tajikistan’s armed forces and make Tajikistan capable of efficiently opposing any external threats to your country,” said Putin, reported Tolo News.
The Russian officials repeatedly expressed concerns over possible security threats from across the border with Afghanistan, but the Islamic Emirate pledged that Afghanistan’s soil will never be used to threaten a country.
Moreover, Putin mentioned his country’s military equipment given to Tajikistan’s military forces to get stronger and address potential threats from other countries, reported Khaama Press.
Vladimir Putin’s concerns over insecurity on Afghanistan’s borders with Central Asian countries are not new, earlier; he had expressed some concerns and had discussed the issue with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan’s heads of state.
Russia has also conducted military drills with Tajikistan’s forces on the border with Afghanistan and Putin described his country’s military base in Tajikistan as a significant element of regional security. (IANS/ANI)