US and Kazakhstan sign agreement easing air transit to Afghanistan

The USA and Kazakhstan have signed an agreement opening new transit routes for US planes carrying military personnel and equipment to Afghanistan, RIA Novosti quotes the US State Department.

"The agreement enhances a United States-Kazakhstan arrangement, under wich the United States began transit flights to Afghanistan across Kazakhstan's airspace in 2001," a joint US-Kazakh statement published by the State Department announced."By providing access to new transit routes, Kazakhstan is providing valuable support to the international effort to defeat the violent extremism in Afghanistan and to ensure Afghanistan's and the region's security," the statement reads.

The agreement, signed on Friday by US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Andrew Shapiro, and Kazakh Ambassador to the United States, Erlan Idrissov, will allow US planes to utilize polar routes to Kazakhstan, saving both fuel and time.

The agreement was reached during a meeting in Washington in April between Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his US counterpart, Barack Obama.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) currently has some 130,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. US President Barack Obama has pledged to begin withdrawing troops from the country in July next year.