LONDON: The United Kingdom has struck a deal with Uzbekistan to help bring back four billion pounds of equipment from Afghanistan as operations drawn down, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said on Thursday.

The number of British troops in Afghanistan will fall from 9,000 currently to about 5,200 by the end of this year.

Mr Hammond told lawmakers that the UK had struck a deal with Uzbekistan because the only current transit route for equipment — through Pakistan — “would be hard pressed to meet the capacity demands” of the drawdown, which for Britain involves bringing home about 2,500 vehicles and 6,500 storage containers.

Under the arrangement, some 450,000 pounds of surplus equipment — Land Rover spare parts and Leyland DAF trucks — will be “gifted” to Uzbekistan.—AP