The
US military's top transport commander says
overland cargo routes through Pakistan must be
reopened to North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) for the United States to complete its
pullout from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Pakistan closed overland cargo routes for
NATO supplies in November 2011 amid deteriorating
relations with the United States and the NATO
alliance.
US General William Fraser told
the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 28
that the so-called Northern Distribution Network,
which passes through Central Asia, was unable to
handle the large number of shipments or all of the
types of cargo
that need to be moved
out of Afghanistan to keep the withdrawal on
schedule.
Fraser said existing agreements
with Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan
allowed equipment that is now in Afghanistan to
pass through their territory as the war draws down
- but not any weapons.
He said the US
military was exploring routes to move non-lethal
supplies and some types of armored vehicles
through those countries.
His remarks
suggest that lightly armored US Humvee vehicles
relied upon by US troops in Afghanistan - and
possibly Bradley armored personnel carriers -
could pass through Central Asia without violating
existing agreements if they are stripped of their
guns.
But an alternative solution likely
would be needed to bring out the heavily armored
M1A1 Abrams tanks deployed in Helmand Province in
early 2011.
Fraser also said Russia and
Uzbekistan had endorsed transit routes for
withdrawing equipment.
Tajik
route In Tajikistan, Defense Ministry
spokesman Farhod Ibodulloev told RFE/RL's Tajik
Service on February 29 that Fraser visited
Dushanbe last week for talks with Defense Minister
Sherali Khayrulloev.
Tajik analysts say a
new US-built bridge connecting the country with
Afghanistan could be used to extract supplies.
Ibodulloev said the two agreed that their existing
agreement on transit of cargo allowed transport
both to and from Afghanistan, and that no new
treaty would be needed for the withdrawal of
non-lethal equipment or some types of armored
vehicles.
Tajik specialists note that the
United States in 2007 completed a $37 million
bridge across the River Panj linking northern
Afghanistan to Tajikistan.
They say that
bridge makes it possible to transport NATO cargo
overland out of Afghanistan to French aircraft
based in Dushanbe, to a German air base in
Uzbekistan, or to Kyrgyzstan, where the US
military leases part of Manas International
Airport for its transport hub on the Northern
Distribution Network.
Equipment also could
be loaded onto railcars in Tajikistan for shipment
across Russia to seaports in the Baltics.
At the February 28 hearing, Fraser also
said every US flight that delivered supplies into
Afghanistan was now being fully loaded with
non-lethal cargo as part of the withdrawal, which
aims to reduce US troop levels from a surge peak
of 110,000 to 70,000 by the end of 2012.
Nevertheless, he said, the closure of
overland routes through Pakistan that were used to
ship much of the US military equipment into
landlocked Afghanistan had already slowed the
schedule for the drawdown.
British
plans Defense officials from the United
Kingdom are also trying to develop new exit routes
for bringing British troops and military cargo out
of Afghanistan.
British Defense Secretary
Philip Hammond was in Uzbekistan on February 29
for talks, after signing an agreement with
Kazakhstan's government on February 28 for the air
transit of military supplies and troops.
The British Defense Ministry says Hammond
and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev also
agreed to start negotiations on a land-transit
agreement.
In Astana, Hammond said Britain
faced a "major logistical operation" to take some
11,000 cargo containers and about 3,000 armored
vehicles out of Afghanistan - and that Britain
must "work with our partners in the region to do
so."
Kazakh Defense Minister Adibek
Dzhaksybekov said after his talks with Hammond on
February 28 that "international military
cooperation" was one of the most important and
crucial components for "ensuring regional
security".
British Armed Forces Minister
Nick Harvey plans to follow up Hammond's
negotiations with visits this week to Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
Written
by Ron Synovitz, with reporting by RFE/RL's
Tajik Service correspondent Iskandar
Aliev
(Copyright (c) 2012, RFE/RL
Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW,
Washington DC 20036.)
(To view the
original article, please click here.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
