Mainly Muslim Kazakhstan will become the first nation of ex-Soviet Central Asia to send a military contingent to join Nato-led ISAF troops fighting in Afghanistan, Kazakh parliamentarians decided on Wednesday. An unspecified number of Kazakh soldiers will be sent to Afghanistan on six-month missions with the International Security Assistance Force, in line with a bill passed by the lower house of parliament.
The document did not say when the first Kazakh contingent would be going. Kazakhstan, Central Asia's most successful economy and largest oil producer, maintains cordial ties with its giant neighbours Russia and China and has also attracted massive direct investment from the West.