KABUL: (MEP) Indian government has pledged to send another Mi-25 gunship for Afghan Air Force which is the fourth and final gunship helicopter within the next three weeks, an official said Saturday.
Acting defense minister Masoom Stanikzai, briefing Afghan lawmakers in the Parliament, said in order to develop and improve the Afghan Air Force, the Ministry of Defense is working on a long term plan to advance the process which covers the equipment process and training of the Afghan pilots, maintainers and engineers over a period of five years.
Confidences by Stanikzai was expressed regarding the growth of the Afghan Air Force capabilities with the arrival of fixed wing light attack aircraft from United States.
This comes as Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani met with a delegation of the US senators in Kabul last week and urged the US Congress to assist Afghanistan in building an efficient Air Force.
He said Afghanistan needs to complete the inventory of its Air Force by acquiring aircraft and helicopters, urging the US Congress delegation to assist Afghanistan in this process.
Afghanistan received three of the four Mi-25 gunship helicopters from India late in the month of December last year and days before the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kabul.
