Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 20 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /
The U.S is increasingly relying on three transit routes snaking through Central Asia, Russia and the Caucuses to ship non-military supplies and fuel into Afghanistan, the U.S Senate said.
The deteriorating relationship between Washington and Pakistan is closing off border crossings. That's why the government is using the Northern Distribution Network, an air-and-land network, The Guardian reported.
The study found that just three years ago, about 90 percent of non-military supplies to Afghanistan went through Karachi, Pakistan. Today, close to 75 percent of cargo is shipped through the Northern Distribution Network.
The Nov 26 NATO air raid, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, has added to strains in relations with Islamabad, whose cooperation Washington views as crucial to helping to stabilize the region before most foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan in 2014.
Islamabad gave the U.S. 15 days to leave the base on November 26 in response to a deadly NATO air strike on a checkpoint in the Mohmand tribal area in northwest Pakistan. The attack left at least 24 soldiers dead and 14 injured.
Shortly after the attack, Pakistan's authorities also closed one of NATO's key supply routes to Afghanistan, the so-called northern supply route through the Khyber Pass and Torham border post.