(New Europe) – Germany’s airbase at Termez, a small city in Uzbekistan near the border crossing with Afghanistan, is currently serving only as a reserve airfield. According to the German ambassador to Tashkent, it is not in active use.

In an interview with the news website ca-news.org, the ambassador, Neithart Höfer-Wissing, said: “All participants were aware from the start that our deployment to Termez wouldn’t last longer than the military presence of the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan”.

Uzbekistan operated the base at Termez since February 2002. It served as a rear logistics base for its military mission in Afghanistan. This mission ended in December 2014. During the time of the mission, the base had been manned by several hundred German troops.

Last year, German media reported that Uzbekistan was trying to double the rent for the base to €35 mln. It remains unclear, however, if the rent was increased. It is now being maintained by “the core team,” Höfer-Wissing said.