NATO signs exit deal with central Asian states

NATO has signed deals with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to use their territory for evacuating vehicles and military equipment from Afghanistan. The agreement will allow the military alliance to bypass Pakistan, which has blocked NATO from using its territory in a disagreement over drone strikes. \"We reached agreement on reverse transit from Afghanistan with three Central Asian partners: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan,\" Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a news conference. \"These agreements will give us a range of new options and the robust and flexible transport network we need,\" he added, without offering more detail on the accords. Rasmussen said there was no agreement with Pakistan to restore the supply route. The US-led NATO operation in Afghanistan is due to wind down completely by the end of 2014. Tens of thousands of vehicles, containers and arms will have to leave them. The force has already started pulling out some equipment. Pakistan is the easiest and cheapest route out of landlocked Afghanistan, but it has been closed to NATO forces for six months. Islamabad shut down the southern supply routes after US airstrikes accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, forcing NATO to switch mostly to the so-called Northern Distribution Network through Central Asia, the Caucuses and Russia. \"Talks are ongoing with Pakistan regarding the resumption of the route.\"\"I still hope that a solution can be found in the very near future,\" Rasmussen said.