BISHKEK. Oct 2 (Interfax-AVN) - No more combat flights to Afghanistan will be made from an international anti-terrorist coalition airbase at the Manas Airport in Bishkek, a spokesman for the airbase said on Thursday.
He said the airbase's tasks had changed. Starting this week, coalition servicemen will fly to Afghanistan only on fueling and cargo shipment missions.
F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands have left the airbase. Danish and Dutch soldiers as well as New Zealand servicemen and their C-130 cargo plane will leave Kyrgyzstan before the end of this week.
The Danish and Dutch Air Forces assigned their F-16 fighters for support to coalition troops in Afghanistan in 2002. Now the coalition will get combat support from other airbases, he said.
However, he did not rule out that fighters might return to the Manas airbase. He said he had no information about the deployment of new military contingents or warplanes.
Military cargo planes and tanker aircraft from the U.S. and Italian Air Forces are currently stationed at the airbase, he said. The total size of the airbase personnel is approximately 1,100 servicemen from the United States, South Korea and Italy.
The airbase was opened in the winter of 2001 for Operation Enduring Freedom.