Military

Kurgan-Tyube, Tajikistan
37°52'13"N 68°52'11"E

On 03 November 2001, Tajikistan agreed to allow the United States to evaluate three former Soviet airbases for potential use by US aircraft to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The agreement was announced after a meeting in Dushanbe between US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Tajik Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov. The agreement followed an inspection on 31 October of several airports in southern Tajikistan by CINCENT Gen. Tommy R. Franks.

The initial evaluation was intended to be a prelude to a Tajik decision on the types of missions that the United States would be allowed to conduct from Khujand [in north Tajikistan], Kulyab / Kulob [about 50 miles southeast of Dushanbe], and Kurgan-Tyube / Qurghonteppa [in southern Tajikistan]. The evaluation apparently did not include Dushanbe, or the Tajik base near the town of Parkhar [about 100 kilometers from the Afghan border], which had previously figured in news speculation about possible US operations. The Northern Alliance had used Kulyab and Parkhar to obtain supplise through Tajikistan. Units of the Russian 201st Motorized Infantry Division are deployed at Dushanbe, Kurgan-Tyube, and Kulyab.

Despite the US evaluation, there is no evidence that would indicate that the US actually stationed forces at Kurgan-Tyube.