BISHKEK, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The Kyrgyz Defense Ministry on Thursday released plans for the joint construction of an anti-terrorism training center with the United States.
The facility scheduled to be built in Batken in southern Kyrgyzstan will be used to train special forces for Kyrgyzstan.
"The construction of this facility is a project within the sphere of bilateral Kyrgyz-American relations in the fight against international terrorism and religious extremism," the ministry said.
The Kyrgyz Defense Ministry confirmed news about the facility earlier this month.
Sources said the center may be small because construction would begin a short time after a joint military office is established, with a start-up fund of five million dollars from the U.S.
During the war in Afghanistan in 2001, Kyrgyzstan's Manas international airport was used by the United States as an airbase, which served as an important pass-through transportation center for military personnel and equipment in and out of Afghanistan.
