Uzbekistan evicted troops of the United States from a military base that has served as a hub for combat and humanitarian missions to Afghanistan shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Washington Post quoted government officials as reporting on Saturday.

In a highly unusual move, the notice of eviction from Karshi-Khanabad air base was delivered by a courier from the Uzbek Foreign Ministry to the US embassy in Tashkent on Friday, said a senior US administration official involved in Central Asia policy.

The message did not give a reason. Uzbekistan will give the United States 180 days to move aircraft, personnel and equipment, the newspaper quoted unidentified US officials as saying.

If Uzbekistan follows through, the United States will face several logistical problems for its operations in Afghanistan, US officials said.

Scores of flights use Karshi-Khanabad air base monthly. It has been a landing base to transfer humanitarian goods that then will be taken by road into northern Afghanistan.

Karshi-Khanabad air base is also a refueling base with a runway long enough for large military aircraft.

US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld returned this week from Central Asia, where he won assurances from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan that Washington can use their bases for operations in Afghanistan.

US forces use Tajikistan for emergency landings and occasional refueling, but it lacks good roads into Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstan does not border Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua