BISHKEK, Feb 2: Nato would “regret” any decision by the Kyrgyz authorities to order the closure of a US base that serves as a resupply post for operations in Afghanistan, a top alliance official said on Monday. Kyrgyz officials have repeatedly said that President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is considering ordering the base’s closure, in the hope it will prompt Russia to extend a major loan and invest in the impoverished country’s energy sector.

“Obviously, if we were not able to use the airport there would be difficulties in supplying and resupplying our forces in Afghanistan so we would regret that,” said Robert Simmons, Nato’s special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The base, located at Manas outside the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, is home to about 1,200 foreign military personnel, mainly from the United States, and acts as a staging post for operations in Afghanistan, located to the south.

It was opened after the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to support US-led operations in Afghanistan.

“What we do is we use facilities at Manas to transit and to transport goods and soldiers to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) force in Afghanistan,” Simmons told reporters at a news conference in Bishkek.—AFP