New Delhi: The US military will supply its forces in Afghanistan through Russia and some Central Asian states.
An agreement has been reached after prolonged negotiations. The new route will enable supplies to enter northern Afghanistan probably through Uzbekistan and transit to southern Afghanistan where most US and NATO forces are based.
This will reduce US dependence on Pakistan's Khyber Pass where its supply of convoys have been frequently attacked or looted by pro-Taliban militants.
The agreement comes ahead of a planned surge of US troops in Afghanistan which could push their numbers to 60,000.
Few analysts expect Washington to abandon the Pakistani routes altogether -- unless they become impossible to traverse due to security concerns -- because they are the shortest and cheapest. The goods arrive in the southern Pakistani port of Karachi.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani army said Tuesday that it had killed 60 militants in the Mohmand tribal area close to the Afghan border, a lawless region considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders.
Also on Tuesday, police said suspected Taliban militants killed six alleged U.S. spies in a tribal region, where American missile attacks have reportedly killed several Al Qaeda leaders in recent months.
Suryakirans are the first aerobatic team in Indian Air Force is formed in 1982 on the occasion of its Golden Jubilee.
The team consists of nine demonstration planes those are the Kiran Mk.2s and two spare ones as well. There are 13 pilots and about 50 technicians. The team's base is in Bidar, Karnataka.
“The reason for the crash is unknown. A court of enquiry has been set up,” says IAF official, Mahesh Upasani.
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