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U.S. to establish training center for Kyrgyz security service, not military base

© RIA Novosti . Vladislav Ushakov / Go to the mediabankU.S. transit center on the territory of Manas Airport
U.S. transit center on the territory of Manas Airport - Sputnik International
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The United States does not plan on opening another military base in Kyrgyzstan, but will likely set up a training center for Kyrgyz security services instead, U.S. Ambassador to Kygyzstan, Tatiana Gfoeller said on Wednesday.

The United States does not plan on opening another military base in Kyrgyzstan, but will likely set up a training center for Kyrgyz security services instead, U.S. Ambassador to Kygyzstan, Tatiana Gfoeller said on Wednesday.

On August 7, Washington Post said the United States is planning to move ahead with construction of a $10 million military training base in Osh called "the Osh Polygon."

It said discussions continued "under the new Kyrgyz president, Roza Otunbayeva, with whose government Washington is trying to broaden relationships."

The Washington Post said Osh Polygon will consist of "a secure garrison compound with officers' quarters and barracks for enlisted personnel, plus range facilities, firing pistols, rifles, crew-served weapons and explosive ordnance."

"The U.S. does not plan to open military bases in Kyrgyzstan, or in other Central Asian countries," Gfoeller said.

The diplomat said the United States was likely to set up a training center for the Kyrgyz security service involved in counterterrorism and anti-drug operations in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Earlier Kyrgyz officials denied reports over the construction of the Osh military base.

Kyrgyz Defense Ministry spokesperson Aizada Igibayev said reports "about the establishment of a U.S. military base in the republic are at odds with the facts."

Kyrgyzstan hosts a U.S. transit center on the territory of Manas Airport in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The base serves as a major transit point for supplying troops in Afghanistan. It also hosts a fleet of coalition aerial tankers for fighters' refueling and surveillance aircraft used in Afghanistan.

 

BISHKEK, August 11 (RIA Novosti)

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