Military Air Bases at Central Asia

Here is a map with military air bases at Central Asia (Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan). Use the right frame to find the bases.

Central Asia has always been a strategic region, due to different factors in different history periods. The main current factors are related with the routes for oil pipelines (from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan), narcotics production which is currently one of the main economic activities (mainly in Afghanistan), the neighboring of emerging and existing powers (China, India, Russia) which join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), regional conflicts (Kashmir, Afghan civil war), and the presence of highly militarized and unstable countries and societies.

In this context, the main actors have been installing military bases, where two of the main actors (USA and Russia) use the bases of other countries (Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan).

Clashes between Afghan and Pakistani armies

In the last weeks there have been clashes between Afghan and Pakistani armed forces at the Durand Line, an important segment of the Afghan-Pakistani border.

Clashes began the 19th April when Afghan troops tore down a new anti-Taliban fence erected by Pakistani soldiers on the border between the two countries. The fight place is at the border: at Shkin (Afghanistan, Paktika Province) and Angoor Adda (Pakistan’s FATA). The position is stated in this google earth community post : Pakistani-Afghan troops clash (20Apr07) , or follow this link to google maps.

The conflict is analyzed in this article: "South Asia: Border Clashes Reveal Rifts Between Pakistan, Afghanistan", May 14, 2007 (RFE/RL). The correspondent Ron Synovitz spokes about the conflict with Rahul Bedi.

Some references to the recent clashes are:

• Pakistan and Afghan forces clash, BBC News, 17 May 2007.
• Pakistan, Afghan Troops Again Clash Along Border, globalsecurity.org, 17 May 2007.
• U.S., Pakistani Soldiers Reported Killed In Border Incident. May 14, 2007 (RFE/RL).

Some articles related with the April clashes are:

• Pakistani, Afghan troops clash. Daily Times (PK), April 20 2007.
• Afghanistan 'border fence' clash. BBC News, 19 April 2007.

The image shows a Pakistani soldier installing the fence (from BBC News).



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