Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 11 / Trend /
Trend commentator Arzu Naghiyev
There is plenty of time before the last NATO troops leave Afghanistan, but when the time comes in two years, they must all be out. Therefore, countries involved in this processes must begin preparatory measures now.
Perhaps these issues will be amongst the top issues in discussions at the Obama-Karzai meeting. It will be necessary to discuss the challenges, facing the 3,000 to 20,000 U.S troops that would remain in the country after the NATO withdrawal, at this meeting.
According to the U.S. Central Command's calculations, during these two years, the U.S army should take around 2,200 containers and vehicles from Afghanistan monthly for 2 years in order to completely remove all equipment and facilities. Around 500 containers and vehicles will pass through Central Asia. Some 400 units of this volume will be transported by railway through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia, and the remaining 100 by trucks through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus.
Head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. James Mattis visited Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan from March 28 - April 2, 2012 to fully discuss these issues and meet with the presidents of these countries to exchange views on this and other issues.
The conditions, developed by Central Command in respect to its return transit, were presented on maps and information slides in October of 2012. Around 1,200 units of rolling stock and 1,000 containers must start moving monthly.
Distribution via transport networks is as follows:
Dubai multimodal transit - 200 units of rolling stock / 200 containers;
Jordanian multimodal transit - 50 units of rolling stock / 50 containers;
Russian route - 200 units of rolling stock / 200 containers;
KKT route (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan) - 100 containers;
Pakistani corridor GLOC - taking out the rest rolling stock and containers.
It is interesting that some slides are a map, which shows all the routes through which the goods may be exported from Afghanistan. The "Russian route" by railway also runs through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, while the KKT truck route, which is interesting, ensures transportation via a longer route to the Caspian port of Aktau to Baku by sea, and then through the Caucasus and Turkey to Europe, rather than through Russia.
It is also interesting that multi-modal transit centers, organized by the U.S. and NATO in Eurasia, such as in Baku, Ulyanovsk (Russia) and Constanta (Romania), appear not to be a priority, because quite a large amount of cargo is expected to be delivered through Dubai and Jordan, rather than through them. The same volume of cargo as to Central Asia will be delivered to these Middle Eastern countries and this will be done despite the fact that the goods will have to be partially transported by air.
According to the slides, the motto of the U.S. Central Command is timely, convenient, flexible delivery without disruption of supply.