Kazakhstan ratifies agreement with U.S. on Afghanistan transit

The upper house of the Kazakh parliament on Thursday ratified an agreement opening new transit routes for U.S. planes carrying military personnel and equipment to Afghanistan.

The agreement was reached on November 12, 2010 in Washington by U.S. President Barack Obama and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.

“By providing access to new transit routes, Kazakhstan is providing valuable support to the international effort to defeat violent extremism in Afghanistan and to ensure Afghanistan’s and the region’s security,” a joint statement released after the deal was reached said.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) currently has some 130,000 soldiers in Afghanistan.

ASTANA, April 14 (RIA Novosti)