A EurasiaNet.org probe into a late-2011 rail bridge explosion in Uzbekistan has found inconsistencies in the official Uzbek assertion that terrorism was behind the mishap. An eyewitness examination of the blast site, located in a remote part Uzbekistan not far from the Uzbek-Tajik frontier, indicates that the incident likely was not the work of terrorists.
When NATO representatives meet with their Afghan and Central Asian counterparts in Istanbul on November 2 to discuss the “New Silk Road” project, they will try to play up its mutual economic benefits.
The Pentagon is going local in Central Asia, seeking to increase the role of regional long-haul trucking firms and food producers in supplying US troops in Afghanistan. Local economies stand to benefit from new business opportunities, officials in Washington say.
