Azerbaijan, Baku, March 13 / Trend V. Zhavoronkova/
The U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Kyrgyzstan to visit Manas Transit Center on March 13, CA-News reported.
According to the Center, Panetta plans to meet with Kyrgyz officials.
Kyrgyz Defense Ministry has not commented on this issue yet.
The U.S. air base, renamed as the Transit Center, was established at the Manas International Airport in Bishkek in December 2001, and today it involves about 1,200 soldiers. The base is an important part of the NATO Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan. The agreement on deployment of the U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan is valid until 2014.