|
Factbox: NATO supply routes into Afghanistan
There are two routes into Afghanistan from Pakistan, one across the Khyber Pass to the Afghan border town of Torkham and on to Kabul. The other goes through Pakistan's Baluchistan province to the border town of Chaman and on to the southern Afghan city, and former Taliban stronghold, of Kandahar.Between them these two routes account for just under one third of all cargo that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) ships into Afghanistan. Just over one third of all cargo goes on routes dubbed the "northern distribution network" through Central Asia, and the Caucasus or Russia. The remaining 31 percent is flown in. As recently as July, the balance of supplies transiting through Pakistan and the northern distribution network were weighted in Pakistan's favor, with slightly more than half of ground-transported supplies arriving through Khyber or Chaman. After a string of disruptions, NATO-led forces and the U.S. military decided to push supply networks away from reliance on Pakistan. The United States has gone even further than other nations in the alliance with a target that only 25 percent of ground cargo should arrive via Afghanistan's eastern neighbor. This was done with the goal of "reducing reliance on any single line of communication to avoid any unnecessary vulnerabilities should that network become unavailable," according to an ISAF spokeswoman. Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 2011-11-27 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=334122 |