NATO reaches transit deal with Central Asian nations

BRUSSELS - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday said the alliance has reached agreements with three Central Asian nations, which would allow it to transport troops and equipments out of Afghanistan.

"We reached agreements on reverse transit from Afghanistan with three Central Asian partners: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. These agreements will give us a range of new options and the robust and flexible transport network we need," Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels.

"I thank all three partner countries for their support. NATO will continue to actively engage with Afghanistan's neighbors to build wider support for the country's stability," he said.

NATO has already reached a similar agreement with Russia. The new deals will allow the alliance to ship its troops and military equipments out of Afghanistan through the so-called northern supply routes.

NATO will wrap up its combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. As Pakistan closed down the southern supply routes in November in protest of U.S. air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, the alliance has to depend on the northern routes for evacuation.

Rasmussen said he hoped talks with Pakistan would lead to the reopening of the supply routes, but declined to give details.