TASHKENT: Uzbekistan has sent technicians to the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan to repair its airport equipment and help it restart operations, the Tashkent government said on Friday.

The move reflects the readiness among Afghanistan’s northern neighbours to build ties with the new Taliban-backed government after the Islamist movement’s rapid takeover of the country as U.S. and allied forces withdrew this year.

The Uzbek presidential special envoy on Afghanistan, Ismatilla Ergashev, who visited the northern Afghan province of Balkh last month, said on Friday that the technicians planned to complete their work on the airport by early next year.