Nato strikes alternate supply route deals through Central Asia
BRUSSELS: Nato has concluded agreements with Central Asian nations allowing it to evacuate vehicles and other military equipment from Afghanistan and completely bypass Pakistan, which once provided the main supply route for coalition forces.
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday that Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan had agreed to allow the reverse transport of alliance equipment.
Since Nato already has an agreement with Russia, the deal will allow it to ship back to Europe tens of thousands of vehicles, containers and other items through the overland route when the evacuation picks up pace later this year.
Pakistan shut down the southern supply routes six months ago after US airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at the Salala border post, forcing Nato to switch almost completely to the so-called Northern Distribution Network.
After months of stalemate, Pakistani leaders last month signaled that negotiations on the supply routes were progressing, just in time to secure an invitation to the weekend Nato summit in Chicago. But since then the two sides have made little progress in the talks, officials said.
http://dawn.com/2012/06/04/nato-strikes-alternate-supply-route-deals-through-central-asia/
So at least we have a way out of Afghanistan via the former Soviet Union. Kabul to Kaliningrad.
