NATO allies now can ship Afghanistan bound cargo through Kazakh territory under an agreement reached on Wednesday. Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan have already signed similar agreements.
This opens the Northern supply line, which proviedes an important alternative to vulnerable routes particularly from Karachi through the Khyber Pass. Only on Wednesday NATO supplies came under attack near Peshawar and on Thursday, an important road bridge connecting Peshawar with Khyber Pass was destroyed in a Taliban attack.
The new route passess through overland from Europe to NATO troops in Afghanistan.
“This allows supplies for our forces to start moving from Europe to Afghanistan, complementing the very important transit route through Pakistan,” NATO’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said in a statement in Brussels .
The accord with Kazakhstan will allow NATO forces to ship only non-lethal cargo by rail through its territory. The cargo will then pass through Uzbekistan into Afghanistan.
