By Hafeezullah Haqqani, IOL Correspondent

KANDHAR, November 25 (IslamOnline) - Afghanistan International Airport has been turned into one of the biggest U.S. military bases in the war-torn country, with only U.S. warplanes allowed in and out of the former civilian airport, reported IslamOnline Monday, November 25.

"Kandhar airport is now one of our most important bases, but I do not know exactly how many troops are stationed therein," said Karl Birceno, a U.S. officer in the airport.

Kandhar residents say that the former international airport is used only by U.S. military planes. The same meaning was emphasized by Birceno. "Kandhar airport is under the control of U.S. forces only, no international forces, no peace keepers, no one but us," he said.

The airport, the biggest in Afghanistan, lies southeast of Kandhar, on Kandhar-Boldok road, which is a part of Tehran-New Delhi international road. The U.S. made it a military base since the fall of Taliban regime.

It represented one of the symbols of Taliban power. The Islamic regime, in the past, allowed leaders of al-Qaeda network to make it a center for their activities. According to Kandhar residents, "Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaeda leaders lived in the airport, and established centers for educational and military training for al-Qaeda members".

However, no Afghani is now allowed into the facility, even senior officials of the Afghani transitional government, unless they go through strict security measures carried out by "vigilant and even on the alert U.S. troops".

Such measures are clear upon approaching the main entrance of the airport where there is a roadblock and a checking point, manned by Afghani soldiers. After being thoroughly searched and stripped of belongings, such as mobiles, cameras or any other items deemed suspicious by the Americans, visitors (reporters, senior officials…etc) proceed to other security points.

The Afghani security point is just an outer security belt, inside the gates of the airport, checking points, manned by U.S. forces, ready to shoot at any one they deem suspicious or posing a threat, and all kinds and methods of search (dogs, hi-Tec apparatus and so on).

Inside the former international airport, visitors see nothing but military equipment; tanks, guns, military vehicles, and military planes taking off and jetting in to load or unload logistic support items (for the U.S. forces).

All these security measures, however, failed to breathe a sense of safety into the U.S. forces inside the base, according to visitors and the looks on the faces of U.S. guards.

"I have come to the airport a couple of weeks ago, my job is to help civilians visiting it. So far, I have not seen Kandhar city, even though I want to," said Birceno, from New York.

"We came to Afghanistan to root out al-Qaeda fighters, however, their operations seem endless. We do not want to stay here forever, we want to go home, our families are stiff worried. I do not how long we will stay here, but I think it won't be less than a couple of years," he added.

Dead or alive, members of al-Qaeda still pose a threat to U.S. forces in Afghanistan, in general, and in the airport, in particular.