TASHKENT: Uzbekistan has asked Afghanistan to strengthen security protection for the personnel of Uzbek companies operating in Afghanistan following an armed attack in Balkh Province, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Hanif Atmar discussed over the phone an armed attack on an Uzbek railway company near Hairaton railway station in Afghanistan that occurred on Thursday, the statement said. Uzbekistan’s state railway company said in a separate statement that during the attack by unidentified gunmen, an Afghan soldier guarding the railway was killed, and an Uzbek railway specialist was wounded and taken to the hospital. In response, Atmar said that Afghan authorities will conduct a thorough investigation of the incident and bring those involved to justice.
Uzbekistan shares a border with Afghanistan in the south, and has been participating in the socio-economic revival of the war-torn country through regional infrastructure projects, including building railways and electricity lines. –Agenices
