DUSHANBE, Tajikistan — A dispute between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan has left hundreds of train cars with supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan stranded in Central Asia, a Tajik railway official said.
NATO uses Central Asia to transport nonmilitary cargo such as fuel and food to support its military operations against the Taliban.
The route has become particularly important as traditional supply lines through Pakistan came under increasingly fierce attack from Taliban insurgents.
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have long been at odds over cross-border water use, and Uzbekistan sometimes blocks trains from entering Tajikistan as a way of putting pressure on its neighbor.
"As of May 24, 2,500 carriages bound for Tajikistan are being held on the territory of the Uzbek railways," Usmon Kalandarov, deputy head of Tajikistan's state railway company, said late Tuesday.
"Out of those carriages, more than 300 are NATO cargo for Afghanistan," he said.
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul confirmed the disruptions.
"We are aware there are some tensions in the area and that some carriages carrying NATO supplies are being held up," said Lieutenant-Colonel Goetz Hasske.
"We don't know anything about numbers, but it is not affecting logistics in the area," he said. "We have several border crossing points that we can use, and we may have to reroute some shipments. These are ongoing political tensions in the area."
Once in Central Asia, trains bound for Afghanistan travel through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan before reaching northern Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan is angry at Tajikistan's plans to build a new hydroelectric power plant, Rogun, which Uzbekistan says would disrupt the flow of water it needs for irrigation.
Tajikistan, for its part, has accused Uzbekistan of blocking transit trains loaded with building materials in an attempt to put pressure on it and prevent Rogun's construction.
Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment. Its government has denied any political motives behind holding up Tajik trains, saying delays were caused by technical problems.
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