US shuts Afghan transit base in Kyrgyzstan

The United States on Tuesday shut its airforce base in Kyrgyzstan that had been the main transit hub for troops going to Afghanistan, a move expected to boost Russia's influence in Central Asia.
Washington was forced to shut the Manas Transit Centre north of Bishkek after Kyrgyzstan, an ex-Soviet country seeking closer ties with Moscow, refused to extend its lease last year.
US officials gave the Kyrgyz authorities a symbolic set of wooden keys at a ceremony to hand over the base, located just outside the capital Bishkek.
US ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Pamela Spratlen said all military personnel would leave the base in a week.
Some 5.5 million coalition troops passed through the base since it was established in late 2001, in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the US, commander John Millard said, according to AFP.