PRAGUE, July 18, 2008 (AFP) - Turkmen authorities forced a Czech military plane bound for Afghanistan to return to Prague after refusing to give it permission to fly over its territory, the Czech ministry of defence said in a statement on Friday.

'The Czech army A-319 aircraft travelling from Prague to Kabul was forced to return to the Czech Republic. The reason was the non-authorisation to overfly Turkmenistan's airspace from local authorities,' the ministry said.

The plane took off more than five hours late on Friday morning on the basis of promised authorisation but it was never given, it added.

On the flight were 39 passengers including members of a medical evacuation and field hospital team and Czech soldiers returning to duty in the strife-torn country.

A Czech military plane returning from Afghanistan was blocked all night at a local airport by Turkmen authorities in December 2006. Authorities said an armed bodyguard was on the flight accompanying Czech military and political officials and that there was a discrepancy over the list of weapons on board.