The arms trade flourishes in Central Asia
Ariel Cohen
Eurasianet, September 5, 2001

The collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of political Islam, and pervasive corruption are the defining factors in the Central Asian arms trade. Countries in the region are actively selling and buying arms, and they are also potential sources for the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

A number of governments – including Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban – are interested in gaining access to nuclear, chemical and biological materials and weapons in the former Soviet Union. Remnants of the Soviet nuclear, chemical and biological arsenals and industries are still functioning in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. For example, one of Russian Pacific Fleet’s chemical weapons storage facilities was located in the Kostanai Region of Kazakhstan, according to the Moscow-based Institute of the CIS Countries. In addition, a number of uranium enrichment facilities and mines are located in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

Numerous smuggling attempts have been uncovered. In April 2000, Uzbek customs officers on the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border reportedly stopped an Iranian truck transporting 10 lead containers with highly radioactive materials destined for Pakistan. A shipment of radioactive radium-226 from Kazakhstan was reportedly intercepted in Novosibirsk, while five kilograms of uranium were stolen in Semipalatinsk. The thieves were convicted.

Kazakhstan also plays a prominent role in the conventional arms trade. When the Soviet Army withdrew from Eastern Europe, Kazakhstan received up to 6,000 tanks; 1,500 armored personnel carriers (BMPs and BTRs); 7,000 artillery pieces, and dozens of helicopters. Many of the these weapons have been made available on arms markets.

The abundant supply of weapons is reflected by low prices. T-72 tanks are offered for as little as $70-80,000 apiece, while BTRs (armored personnel carriers) sell for as little as $1,000 each. Soviet-era surplus tanks, AN-12 military transports, armored personnel carriers and other equipment have been sold to India, Pakistan and Turkey.

Perhaps Kazakhstan’s most notorious arms deals have involved North Korea. In March 1999, Azerbaijani customs officials seized a giant Russian transport plane loaded with six Kazakh fighter jets destined for Pyongyang. In August of the same year, reports began circulating that North Korea had purchased up to 40 fighter jets. The two scandals damaged relations between Kazakhstan and a number of key donor states, including the United States and Japan.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan has cashed in on the bloody conflicts in Africa. Astana has sold surplus weapons systems off for deployment in the regional wars in Angola, Zaire and Bosnia. And during the recent Ethiopian-Eritrean war it sold $1.8 million worth of D-30 howitzers to Addis Ababa.

According to The Guardian of London, Kazakhstan recently sold 300 mm SMERCH multiple rocket launchers and tactical surface-to-surface missiles to the oppressive government of Sudan, which has been waging war against Christian and animist populations in the south of the country for the past two decades. Sudan has also been accused by international human rights organizations of promoting slavery.

Russian experts believe that the miniscule official arms trade figures ($15-20 million a year) do not reflect the much wider trade in "second-hand" Soviet materiel which is conducted off the books. The proceeds are deposited in the personal offshore bank accounts of officials supervising the lucrative trade. The Kazakhstani opposition claims that in August 2001 a huge fire at the Balkhash military storage facilities in Central Kazakhstan was staged to cover up and write off embezzled weapons illegally sold abroad.

The threat of Islamic radicalism to the region’s secular authoritarian regimes is causing a two-way flow of weapons in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Russia serves as the primary exporter of arms and materiel to the region.

Since Uzbek President Islam Karimov asked Russia’s Vladimir Putin to assist with Central Asia’s security needs during Karimov’s visit to Moscow in May 2001, Russian weapons have flowed into the region. The Uzbek Defense Ministry bartered $30 million worth of cotton and natural gas for Russian mortars and multiple-launch rocket systems needed to fight Islamic insurgents.

At the same time, China has also supplied Central Asian states with arms. Beijing gave Tashkent sniper rifles and bulletproof vests for its special forces, with more to come after the signature of the Shanghai Six agreement in June of this year. While Uzbekistan welcomes the arms assistance, Tashkent also desires security guarantees provided by Russia and China.

While Moscow barters weapons to Tashkent for commodities (Uzbekistan’s slowly growing economy does not generate sufficient hard currency to cover the transactions), impoverished Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan receive Russian hardware for free. The Kremlin’s interests go beyond the CIS. Russia is supplying Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance, which is fighting the Taliban, with helicopters and light weapons. Moscow also facilitates the transport of weapons paid for by Iran to the predominantly Tajik Northern Alliance fighters. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archives].

Editor’s Note: Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., is a Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He is the author of Russian Imperialism: Development and Crisis (Greenwood/Praeger, 1998).

Eurasianet, September 5, 2001