Baltic States – CIS, Railways, Transport

NATO members are looking for alternative supply routes for their troops fighting the Taliban as an alternative to using Pakistan, where Western military convoys are repeatedly attacked by Taliban militants, reports Reuters/LETA.

As reported, the first U.S. cargo shipment is 100 containers large, and was sent to Afghanistan by rail via the Port of Riga.

The United States Embassy in Latvia informed that approximately 20 to 30 train cars per week will be sent to Afghanistan via Latvia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The newspaper Biznes&Baltija reported previously that Russia agreed to be a transit country for the cargo from the United States after George Bush was recently replaced by Barack Obama as United States President. One of Russia's conditions, however, is that the cargo cannot be military related.

The cargo will be made up of camouflage, food products and civil equipment.

As Biznes&Baltija reported, if the freight transit through these countries is successful, it could increase to 700 containers per week for Afghanistan.