Kyrgyzstan — Manas Transit Center Sends Relief to Southern Kyrgyzstan

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2010 — Mil­i­tary offi­cials at the U.S. Tran­sit Cen­ter in Man­as, Kyr­gyzs­tan, are pro­vid­ing human­i­tar­i­an aid to the country’s south­ern region fol­low­ing days of vio­lent eth­nic clash­es there

Air­men load food onto a pal­let at the Man­as Inter­na­tion­al Air­port for trans­porta­tion to Osh, Kyr­gyzs­tan, June 13, 2010. The U.S. Tran­sit Cen­ter in Man­as, togeth­er with the State Depart­ment, pur­chased flour, oil, pas­ta, tea, yeast, and oth­er basics total­ing more than 31,000 pounds for a human­i­tar­i­an assis­tance deliv­ery to the south­ern region of Osh. U.S. Air Force pho­to by Senior Air­man Nichelle Ander­son Click to enlarge

The tran­sit cen­ter, togeth­er with the U.S. State Depart­ment, this week­end bought 31,000 pounds of flour, oil, pas­ta, tea, yeast, and oth­er basics to deliv­er to the city of Osh, where much of the fight­ing is concentrated. 

Recent vio­lence in the south­ern Kyr­gyzs­tan region has caused thou­sands to flee the area. 

Accord­ing to a release by U.S. mil­i­tary offi­cials at Man­as, they are work­ing with the Min­istry of the Pro­tec­tion of Youth and the U.S. State Depart­ment to deliv­er the aid, which also includes lim­it­ed med­ical supplies. 

Osh, the sec­ond-largest city in Kyr­gyzs­tan, is about 200 miles south of the cap­i­tal city of Bishkek, which hosts the Man­as tran­sit cen­ter. The base serves as a troop tran­sit and refu­el­ing point for the U.S. military. 

Pen­ta­gon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan said oper­a­tions on the base are not affect­ed by the fighting. 

“The oper­a­tions at the Man­as base con­tin­ue unabat­ed,” he said. 

The base has not need­ed addi­tion­al secu­ri­ty, Lapan said. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs)