WASHINGTON, July 6: The US State Department has rejected the demand for withdrawing troops from Central Asia, saying that US troops in Afghanistan and neighbouring states would stay for as long as those countries want them to stay.
On Tuesday, Russia, China and some Central Asian states asked US-led troops to fix a date for their departure from military bases in the region that were set up to support operations in Afghanistan in 2001.
The United States operates military airbases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan — two of the five former Soviet Central Asian republics that Russia still views as its backyard and where China, seeking oil and gas, is an increasingly vocal player.
The call was made at a meeting in Kazakhstan of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and against the backdrop of veiled criticism of Western influence in the Central Asian region. Founded in June 2001, the SCO includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Other states from the neighbouring regions, such as India, Pakistan and Iran, are also attending the SCO summit now being held in the new Kazakh capital, Astana.
Asked to comment on the demand for the withdrawal of US troops from Central Asia, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack acknowledged that the United States maintained military bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
He then pointed out that Afghanistan, where US troops and the official Afghan army were jointly fighting remnants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda movements, did not endorse the demand for the withdrawal of US forces from the region.
“I would note, however, there was a party from those discussions and from the signature line on the statement who’s missing, and it’s Afghanistan,â€? said Mr McCormack.
He said US and international forces were in Afghanistan at the request of the Afghan government and were using their facilities in an effort to aid the Afghan people build their democracy and greater prosperity.
The spokesman said that the US military presence in some of the countries mentioned in the SCO declaration was determined by the terms of our bilateral agreements under which both countries have concluded that there’s a benefit to both sides from our activities.
Commenting on the deaths of 17 Afghan civilians in a US air raid last week, Mr McCormack said the United States deeply regrets any loss of civilian life during military actions.
“Our military is second to none in the care that it takes to target those who are fighting against US forces and avoid any civilian casualties or collateral damage, and that has been their policy, I think, throughout operations not only in Afghanistan but Iraq,� he added.