On the 17th anniversary of September 11 attacks, the Islam Karimov Foundation posted a statement on its Facebook page on why Islam Karimov allowed to opening of U.S. base in Uzbekistan's khanabad:
"It has been 17 years since 9/11, a series of the most destructive terrorist attacks in human history, which killed nearly 3000 people. President Islam Karimov's support for the international coalition forces in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks played a key role in the success of the US-led counter-terrorist operations in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The Uzbek president’s stance was of critical importance. Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from war-ravaged Afghanistan in 1989, Uzbekistan faced serious challenges to its security. In 1997, when Taliban forces approached Uzbekistan’s borders and launched missile attacks into residential areas of the Uzbek border town of Termez, Islam Karimov’s calls for international assistance to shore up security in border areas and increase the young country’s defence capacity went unheeded.
At that time, Afghanistan was becoming a key training hub for radical militants, many of whom sought to overthrow secular governments in Central Asian countries and to establish theocratic governments based on the tenets of radical fundamentalism. In the 1990s, these forces had carried out terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan and participated in the devastating civil war in neighbouring Tajikistan.
Therefore, it was obvious that following the defeat of the Northern Alliance − the principal counter-Taliban forces in the 1990s − it was only a matter of time before battle-hardened radical militants launched attacks on the Central Asian states, including Uzbekistan.
In view of all this, President Karimov made an important decision to provide all possible assistance to US-led anti-terror mission in Afghanistan.
The Commander of the US Central Command Tommy Franks and the US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Tashkent on 30 September and 5 October 2001 respectively to meet the Uzbek president. As a result of these talks, the US-led allied forces were given permission to use the Karshi-Khanabad air base in southern Uzbekistan."
